U.S. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday plans for a new visa program that would grant permanent residency rights in the United States for a fee of $5 million – conveniently called a "gold card."
Speaking at the White House, Trump said the so-called "gold card" would attract wealthy people who could contribute to the economy.
"Wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card," Trump said. "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."
When asked whether Russian oligarchs could also apply, Trump responded, "It's possible," adding that he could imagine oligarchs being among those interested. "I think they can afford $5 million," he added.
Trump said the program would launch in about two weeks and is intended to replace the existing EB-5 investor visa while also offering a path to citizenship.
The EB-5 program provides green cards to foreign nationals who commit to investing in U.S. businesses.
"It's somewhat like a green card, but at a higher level of sophistication, it's a road to citizenship for people, and essentially people of wealth or people of great talent, where people of wealth pay for those people of talent to get in, meaning companies will pay for people to get in and to have long term status in the country," Trump said.
Revenue from the "gold card" is expected to help reduce the national debt, he said.
Trump said that he hoped to attract IT experts and investors, adding that companies like Apple could use the program to bring top talent to the country.
