Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Thursday that only one person has been fully processed through the “Gold Card” visa program, which President Donald Trump launched last year.
The Department of Homeland Security runs the new program’s vetting process in coordination with the Commerce Department and the State Department. The Commerce Department manages the $1 million contributions that immigrants must pay to become eligible for a Gold Card, while the State Department issues the specialized visas.
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The costly visas pave the way for wealthy immigrants to obtain permanent legal residence and potentially U.S. citizenship.
“They have approved recently one person, and there are hundreds in the queue,” Lutnick said of DHS while testifying before the House. “They wanted to make sure they did it perfectly.”
In addition to the $1 million contribution, applicants must pay a $15,000 processing fee and undergo an extensive background check. Lutnick called the vetting process “rigorous.”
Asked by Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) if he knows how the Trump administration will spend the $1 million contributions, Lutnick said, “That would be determined by the administration, and its terms are for the betterment of the United States of America.”
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT TRUMP’S GOLD CARD PROGRAM
The question came up during Lutnick’s congressional testimony on Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget request, specifically the amount of funds allocated to the Commerce Department.
Trump previously said the Gold Cards would replace the existing EB-5 immigrant visa program, which allowed over 12,000 foreign investors to immigrate in fiscal 2024. The administration argued that the EB-5 program had fraud risks after a 2021 Congressional Research Service analysis came to the same conclusion.
