US President Donald Trump has announced a new $5 million gold card programme, which he said would supplant the long-standing EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Programme. This move significantly raises the investment threshold from $1 million under EB-5 to $5 million, making it the most expensive golden visa in the world.

While many countries offer Golden Visa programmes — essentially residency or citizenship in exchange for investment — the US programme, once it comes into effect, will be the most expensive and ambitious in the world. The UAE’s Golden Visa costs around $544,000, Portugal’s is $523,000, the UK’s requires $2.5 million, and Greece and Italy are under $300,000.

Why the Change?

Trump’s administration argues that the EB-5 programme, which has issued 135,000 visas over 24 years, has been plagued by fraud and misuse. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated that the shift to a $5 million threshold aims to eliminate these issues. The White House also confirmed that the new visa does not require Congressional approval.

Historically, Chinese investors have dominated the EB-5 programme, with 34,700 visas issued in the last decade. Vietnam (6,300) and India (3,800) also accounted for a significant share.

The new plan comes amid a growing trend of wealthy individuals leaving their home countries. Reports indicate that 10,000 Indian millionaires migrated abroad in just two years, while 16 lakh Indians have surrendered their citizenship since 2011.

Trump has suggested that the US could sell 10 million Golden Visas to help reduce its trade deficit.