The Trump administration is preparing to launch a “gold card” program for wealthy immigrants, which will replace the existing EB-5 visa initiative. Billionaire Elon Musk is overseeing the project through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Each visa will cost $5 million, and Musk’s team is creating a specialized website and application system to simplify the process. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced that the program would be operational in about a week and a half.
The DOGE team is collaborating with officials from the State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and USCIS to set up a visa portal. This initiative is described as a new “route to citizenship” for “very high-level people.” However, details about eligibility were minimal during the announcement made in late February. The gold card program aims to streamline and replace the EB-5 visa, which generated $4 billion in revenue for the federal government last year.
Led by Marko Elez and Edward Coristine, the DOGE project is focused on integrating existing visa processes to reduce the typical vetting timeline to two weeks. Lutnick mentioned the potential sale of a thousand gold cards, but financial evidence remains unverified, raising concerns about citizenship for cardholders. The gold card will feature images of Trump’s face alongside the Statue of Liberty and a bald eagle, emphasizing an expedited and efficient residency process.
