New US 'gold card' offers residency, citizenship path to investors and firm

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that his longpromised gold card was officially going on sale offering legal status and an eventual pathway to US citizenship for individuals paying USD 1 million and corporations ponying up twice that per foreignborn employeeA website accepting applications went live as Trump revealed the start of the programme while surrounded by business leaders in the White Houses Roosevelt RoomIt is meant to replace EB5 visas which Congress created in 1990 to generate foreign investment and had been available to people who spent about USD 1 million on a company that employed at least 10 peopleTrump sees the new version as a way for the US to attract and retain top talent all while generating revenue for federal coffersHe has been promoting the gold card programme for months and once suggested that each card would cost USD 5 million though he more recently revised that to the USD 1 million and USD 2 million pricing schemeThe president said all funds taken in as part of the programme will go to the US government and predicted that billions would flow into an account run by the Treasury Department where we can do things positive for the countryThe new programme is actually a green card effectively offering permanent legal residency with the chance for citizenshipBasically its a green card but much better Trump said Much more powerful a much stronger pathThe president made no mention of requirements for job creation for applying corporations or on overall caps on the programme which exist under the current EB5 programmeInstead he said he had heard complaints from business leaders who had been unable to recruit outstanding graduates from US universities because they were from other countries and lacked permission to stayYou cant hire people from the best colleges because you dont know whether or not you can keep the person Trump saidTrump has built his political career around clamping down on the USMexico border and championing hardline immigration policiesHis second administration spent its first 10plus months launching mass deportation pushes and sweeping immigration crackdowns that have targeted cities including Los Angeles and CharlotteBut he has also drawn criticism from leading voices of his Make America Great Again movement for repeatedly suggesting that skilled immigrants should be allowed into the US something the gold card programme could facilitateCommerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the programme will include USD 15000 for applicant vetting and that the thorough process used to scrutinise backgrounds would make sure these people absolutely qualify to be in AmericaCompanies will be able to receive multiple cards but will be limited to one individual per card he saidLutnick also said the current green card holders earn less money than the average American and that Trump wanted to change thatSo same visas but now just full of the best people Lutnick saidInvestors visas are common around the world with dozens of countries offering versions of golden visas to wealthy individuals including the United Kingdom Spain Greece Malta Australia Canada and ItalyTrump said the programme means the US is getting somebody great coming into our country because we think these will be some tremendous people and singled out top US college graduates from China India and France as among those who will possibly be receiving gold cardsThe companies are going to be very happy he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever