President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday officially creating the ‘Gold’ and ‘Platinum’ cards for heavy-pocketed immigrants wanting to get into the country.
The ‘Gold’ card will cost $1 million, and the ‘Platinum’ card will cost $5 million.
Trump previously pitched the gold card as a replacement for the EB-5 visa program.
The president believes the program will bring in more than $100 billion for the Treasury Department. He says the funds will be used “for cutting taxes and paying down debt.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the new program will allow the United States to “only take extraordinary people at the very top.”
“Instead of people trying to take jobs from the Americans, they’re going to create businesses and create jobs for Americans,” Lutnick said.
On the trumpcard.gov website, the ‘Trump Gold Card’ is offered following Department of Homeland Security vetting and a processing fee. It says the card delivers “U.S. residency in record time.”
A business gold card, called the “Trump Corporate Gold Card,” costs $2 million. The card is transferable from one employee to another with the application of certain fees.
The ‘Platinum’ card is not available yet; the website says it is “coming soon,” but offers “the ability to spend up to 270 days in the United States without being subject to U.S. taxes on non-U.S. income.”
Trump believes the new cards will make tech companies, which often use skilled immigrants, “very happy.”
When Trump originally touted the card in February, he suggested wealthy people would be entering the country with it and “paying a lot of taxes.”
