President Donald Trump announced the introduction of a new "Gold Card" initiative, providing an alternative to the standard Green Card with high value. It costs $5 million and is likely to grant immigrants residency rights as well as a direct route to U.S. citizenship.

Speaking from the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump pointed out that the drive is aimed at bringing wealthy people to the nation.

"We're gonna be selling a gold card. You have a green card, this is a gold card. We're gonna be putting a price on that card of about $5 million, and that's gonna give you green card privileges plus," Trump said as he signed executive orders with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

The program aims to make the country more attractive for wealthy and successful immigrants to invest in the economy of the U.S., Trump claimed. "They'll be wealthy, and they'll be successful, and they'll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people," he continued.

A replacement for the EB-5 visa program?

The launch of the Gold Card might signal the demise of the EB-5 investor visa program, which at present enables foreign investors to obtain Green Cards by making investments in American companies. Lutnick gave a hint about this, explaining that the money from the new program may flow directly to the federal government and not through private investments.

“The president said rather than having this sort of ridiculous EB-5 program, we’re going to end the EB-5 program. We’re going to replace it with the Trump gold card,” Lutnick explained.

Under this new plan, the applicants would need to pay $5 million for a Gold Card, which would then open their doors to permanent residency and, ultimately, citizenship. Lutnick promised that the applicants would still be properly inspected, calling them "wonderful, world-class, global citizens."

In spite of the major policy change, Trump said he doesn't expect to need Congressional approval to institute the Gold Card program. The plan is to introduce it in the next two weeks, although details about its launch are still hazy.

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