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Nearly 70,000 people have expressed interest in President Donald Trump’s proposed “gold card” visa program, which would offer U.S. residency to foreigners who invest at least $5 million, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
As of Monday morning, 67,697 people had registered through the Commerce Department’s internal dashboard, Lutnick said. That number climbed to 68,703 within the hour, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.
“The card will be made of gold,” Lutnick told the Financial Times. “It will be beautiful. Donald Trump appreciates these kinds of things. He cares about how it looks. He cares about how it feels.
“I mean, he deeply cares about that and thinks if you’re going to buy and make this investment in America, we should give you something that is beautiful.”
The Trump administration formally launched trumpcard.gov last week, a website where interested individuals can sign up with basic contact details and regional information. The initiative, still in development, is being pitched as a successor to the EB-5 visa, which currently requires a minimum investment of $1.8 million for permanent residency.
Trump announced the gold card visa plan in February as part of a broader strategy to attract foreign capital and help reduce the national debt.
“If we sell a million, that’s $5 trillion,” Trump said during his first Cabinet meeting of his second term.
The administration has not yet finalized key aspects of the program, including tax structures and country eligibility. Vetting is expected to involve the Departments of Homeland Security, State and Commerce, though it remains unclear whether any nationalities will be barred. Trump has previously restricted travel from a dozen countries and may extend those restrictions.
The program aims to replace the current EB-5 investor visa. This initiative would offer U.S. residency to foreign nationals who invest $5 million in American businesses.
Introduced as part of a larger immigration policy reform, the plan reflects a shift toward investment-focused immigration. Advocates believe it could inject substantial financial resources into the U.S. economy, while opponents argue that immigration policy should emphasize skilled labor instead.
The gold card is also intended to overhaul the EB-5 system, offering a path to citizenship for international investors. Under the current EB-5 guidelines, applicants must pay substantial processing fees ranging from $100,000 to $200,000 to U.S. immigration authorities, invest between $800,000 and $1 million and prove their investment has created at least 10 jobs for American workers.
