USA Gold Card: the green card you can buy for $1 million

The USA has always drawn entrepreneurs, investors and talent from all over the world. Get a green card and you gain access to the world's largest economy, to secure property rights and to a legal system that, for all its flaws, is reliable by global standards. Until now, though, the road there almost always meant lengthy procedures: family sponsorship, work visas, talent programs or the well-known EB-5 investor visa.

The Gold Card unveiled by President Trump is set to change this system fundamentally. Qualifications, jobs and family ties no longer come first; payments in the millions do. That pushes US immigration law into uncharted territory, somewhere between immigration reform, tax policy and funding the federal budget.

1The three new cards

Trump presented the program in three tiers:

• The Gold Card: It costs $1 million and gives the holder permanent residence, comparable to a green card. There is also a $15,000 processing fee. If you hope to buy US citizenship outright with the Gold Card, note that it grants permanent residence, comparable to a green card, not citizenship itself.

• The Corporate Gold Card: Companies can buy a transferable card for $2 million per employee. It does not tie one specific employee to the USA; instead the company effectively acquires a permanent sponsorship right that can later be transferred to other employees.

• The Platinum Card: For $5 million, a particularly attractive option opens up. The plan is that holders can spend up to 270 days a year in the USA without paying US tax on their foreign income. That would create an entirely new special tax class.

At the signing in the Oval Office, Trump described the model as a tool for reducing the deficit. In his words: "They’re going to spend a lot of money to come in. It’s going to raise billions of dollars, billions and billions of dollars, which is going to go to reduce taxes, pay off debt, and for other good things."

2Why this program is unique

What is new about the Gold Card is not that you can buy residence rights. Plenty of countries run "golden visa" programs: Portugal, Greece, Malta and Cyprus among them. But those programs involve investments in real estate or funds that can be cashed out again after a few years.

The crucial difference in the USA: the money you pay is gone. It is explicitly not an investment but a "donation", a gift to the Department of Commerce.

This also sets the Gold Card apart from the classic EB-5 investor visa. There, investors put between $800,000 and $1.05 million into a US project and must create at least ten jobs. If it succeeds, the capital comes back, often with a return. With the Gold Card, nothing comes back. The only benefit is the right of residence.

3The Platinum Card's tax privileges

The planned Platinum Card is especially controversial. Pay $5 million and you would be allowed to spend up to 270 days a year in the USA without paying US tax on your foreign income.

That would create, for the first time, a tax-free residence track for the super-rich. Until now, anyone who became tax resident as a "resident alien" was taxed by the US on their worldwide income. As few as 183 days in the country a year are usually enough to make you fully taxable.

The Platinum Card would turn this principle on its head. It creates a parallel class of people who could live in the USA for almost nine months a year while their actual income keeps being earned tax-free in offshore structures or foreign holding companies. For international entrepreneurs that would make the USA hugely attractive as a place to do business, and at the same time it would be a provocation to the existing system.

4The Corporate Gold Card: immigration as a business resource

The Corporate Gold Card contains a second revolutionary idea. Companies can use it to buy residence rights for their employees, and later transfer those rights to other staff.

An example: A tech company pays $2 million each for five employees. A few years later, two of them quit. Instead of buying new cards, the company can transfer the "slots" it has already paid for to new hires. All it pays is an annual administration fee and a transfer fee.

In effect, residence rights become transferable assets that could show up on company balance sheets. That breaks with the long-standing principle that a visa is always tied to the person.

5The end of the traditional routes

Even more explosive is Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's announcement that traditional green card categories could soon be phased out. In his words: "In less than a month, the other visa Green Card categories are likely to be suspended, and this will be the model that people can come into the country."

That amounts to nothing less than a revolution in US immigration law. Categories such as EB-1 (extraordinary ability) or EB-2 (highly skilled workers) would no longer be granted on merit but on willingness to pay. Gold Card holders are formally slotted into these categories, but the sole basis is meant to be the million-dollar contribution.

6Legal uncertainties

It is still unclear whether every part of this program will survive. Some of the legal stumbling blocks:

• Separation of powers: The President can set a lot in motion by executive order, but fundamental questions of immigration law and taxing power belong to Congress. It is doubtful whether the Platinum Card's tax privileges are possible without new legislation.

• Equal protection: Immigration law may apply different criteria, but such extreme favoritism toward the super-rich could be found unconstitutional in court.

• The "gift" label: Declaring the payments as donations could be seen as a way around the ban on "selling" visas. Lawsuits are likely.

7Financial expectations

The government expects billions in revenue. According to Lutnick, more than $100 billion could come in if 100,000 Gold Cards or 20,000 Platinum Cards are sold. Within the first few days of the announcement, almost 70,000 people had reportedly registered their interest.

Whether that demand is real remains to be seen. Many will wait to see how the program holds up legally and whether it actually lasts.

8Parallel measures for the H-1B

At the same time, Trump has tightened the rules for H-1B work visas. The new price: $100,000 per new H-1B petition. That makes hiring skilled workers far more expensive. (As of August 2026, the fee is the subject of ongoing litigation and not yet settled.) The aim is apparently to steer tech companies away from this route and into the Gold Card system instead, either through corporate cards or individual ones.

This is a clear break with the old approach of actively recruiting talent from around the world. The new rule: if you want to stay, you pay, or you have an employer who pays.

8.1What happens to the E-2, E-1 and L-1?

So far, Trump's executive order and the Gold Card rollout affect only the green card categories, in particular EB-5 and possibly EB-1 and EB-2 (including the National Interest Waiver). These programs are the clear target when it comes to raising revenue and replacing the traditional routes.

But what does this mean for the other, very popular categories?

• E-2 (investor visa): Especially popular with Europeans. You set up a US company, invest your own capital and can then move to the USA yourself. Will the Gold Card replace it? Probably not. The E-2 does not grant permanent residence and is based on bilateral treaties. Trump could raise the fees or tighten the requirements, but scrapping it altogether is unlikely.

• E-1 (treaty trader visa): An even more specialized category, meant for companies with substantial trade in goods or services between their home country and the USA. It is hardly on the political radar, so it should stay largely unchanged.

• L-1 (intracompany transfers): This is where it gets interesting. For large multinationals, the new Corporate Gold Card could become a real alternative. Instead of complicated L-1 petitions, companies could simply buy "slots" and bring their people straight to the USA. That could noticeably reduce demand for L-1 visas. But the L-1 category will not disappear entirely: it is firmly established in US immigration law and used by thousands of companies that will not pay Trump's new million-dollar prices.

Our view: Trump is clearly targeting programs like EB-5 and EB-2 NIW, because payments can replace them directly. The E-2, E-1 and L-1 will probably survive, but they may come to be seen as "second-class visas" while the Gold and Platinum Cards grab the headlines.

9Who wins and who loses

The big winners will be the ultra-wealthy with international income who want access to the US market without paying tax on their foreign income. For them, the Platinum Card is a game changer.

The losers will be skilled professionals and middle-class entrepreneurs who have so far had a route in through EB-1 or EB-2. If you can't raise millions, the system will be closed to you.

10Hubris and reality

Trump's plan also contains a hefty dose of hubris. The idea that you can simply abolish entire visa categories and replace them with a pure "pay-to-play" system is just not realistic. America depends on foreign expertise. Without international talent, companies close, start-ups fail and universities would go bankrupt one after another. The American economy has always thrived on a steady flow of global talent.

And don't forget: the world offers alternatives. A top specialist in AI, biotech or fintech doesn't need the USA. They can move to Dubai, pay no tax at all and still spend 120 to 150 days a year in the US on a visitor visa. That's enough to attend conferences, close deals and keep up their network. And to have fun, shop and vacation.

And let's be honest: how much time do you actually want to spend in the USA? The world's brightest minds are extremely mobile and won't be pushed around. If the US makes it clear that it no longer wants this talent (except for millions of dollars), that is really a loss for America itself.

11What this means for you

The Gold Card is more than a new visa program. It is a radical overhaul of US immigration law that turns residence rights and tax privileges into a commodity. It creates a clear incentive for the wealthy and for companies, and new hurdles for ordinary professionals and families.

It is not yet clear whether the courts and Congress will back this model on every point. But one thing is already clear: if it goes ahead, the USA will become the most expensive, but also the most attractive for tax purposes, "golden visa" destination in the world.

12Advice for European entrepreneurs and investors

For the vast majority of individuals, and for many companies too, this program is simply out of reach. One million US dollars for a green card, or five million for the tax-privileged Platinum Card, is far beyond the budget of ordinary investors.

That said, we do see potential for certain groups:

• International tech companies with massive funding rounds: when venture capital or private equity puts in hundreds of millions, individual executives or key employees can be placed in the US through the Corporate Gold Card.

• Very wealthy individuals with substantial income from abroad: for them, the Platinum Card could be a unique opportunity to live in the USA for up to 270 days a year without paying US tax on their worldwide income.

• Companies with a long-term US strategy: the Corporate Gold Card creates transferable residence rights that can be treated like an asset on the balance sheet.

At the same time, there is legal uncertainty. It is not yet clear whether the Platinum Card's tax privileges will last, or whether the courts will accept the "donations" structure. For investors, that means legal risk remains.

Our advice: if you're considering these cards as an option, get a detailed tax and legal analysis first. We'll help you work out whether the huge capital outlay really pays off, or whether traditional visa categories (E-2, L-1, EB-5) are the better fit for your situation.

👉 Book a consultation now with our team so we can work out the best strategy for you together.

To find out what happened next with the $100,000 fee for H-1B visas, read our article H-1B at an end and our news piece on the court ruling on the H-1B fee. For more background on the Gold Card, see The Gold Card for one million dollars.

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