Trump’s ‘gold card’ visa to offer path to citizenship, starting at $1M

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday signed a proclamation that will require a new annual $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications, among other changes to the program for highly skilled foreign workers that has come under scrutiny by the administration.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the fee will be $100,000 per year and added that “all big companies” are on board.

H-1B visas are meant to bring the best and brightest foreigners for high-skilled jobs that tech companies find difficult to fill with qualified U.S. citizens and permanent residents. The program instead has turned into a pipeline for overseas workers who are often willing to work for as little as $60,000 annually. That is far less than $100,000-plus salaries typically paid to U.S. technology workers.

Trump on Friday insisted that the tech industry would not oppose the move. “I think they’re going to be very happy,” he said.

Representatives for the biggest tech companies, including Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta, did not immediately respond to messages for comment on Friday. Microsoft declined to comment.

“So no longer will you put trainees on an H-1B visa,” Lutnick said on a call with reporters. “That it’s just not economic anymore. If you’re going to train people, you’re going to train Americans. … If you have a very sophisticated engineer and you want to bring them in … then you can pay $100,000 a year for your H-1B visa.”

Trump also announced he will start selling a “gold card” visa with a potential pathway to U.S. citizenship. The “Trump Gold Card” will be available for a processing fee and a $1 million contribution after vetting. For companies, it will cost $2 million. The “Trump Platinum Card,” meanwhile, will be available for a $5 million contribution and will allow foreigners to spend up to 270 days in the U.S. without being subject to U.S. taxes on non-U.S. income. Trump announced a $5 million gold card in February to replace an existing investor visa — this is now the platinum card. Applicants can sign up now for a waitlist for the platinum card, but it still needs to be approved by Congress.

The actions appear intent on reshaping the visa system for wealthy and high-skilled foreigners despite near-certain legal challenges and widespread criticism that Trump is going beyond presidential authority by sidestepping Congress. The changes, if they survive legal muster, will deliver staggering price increases for high-skilled and investor visas created by Congress in 1990.

First lady Melania Trump, the former Melania Knauss, was granted an H-1B work visa in October 1996 to work as a model. She was born in Slovenia.

The H-1B program was created in 1990 for people with a bachelor’s degree or higher in fields where jobs are deemed hard to fill, especially science, technology, engineering and math. Critics say they allow companies to pay lower wages with fewer labor protections.

Historically, these visas — 85,000 per year — have been doled out through a lottery system. This year, Amazon was by far the top recipient of H-1B visas with more than 10,000 awarded, followed by Tata Consultancy, Microsoft, Apple and Google. Geographically, California has the highest number of H-1B workers, according to UCIS.

Critics say H-1B spots often go to entry-level jobs, rather than senior positions with unique skill requirements. And while the program isn’t supposed to undercut U.S. wages or displace U.S. workers, critics say companies can pay less by classifying jobs at the lowest skill levels, even if the specific workers hired have more experience.

As a result, many U.S. companies find it cheaper simply to contract out help desks, programming and other basic tasks to consulting companies such as Wipro, Infosys, HCL Technologies and Tata in India and IBM and Cognizant in the U.S. These consulting companies hire foreign workers, often from India, and contract them out to U.S. employers looking to save money.

Doug Rand, who served as the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services during the Biden administration, said this amounts to a “split personality disorder” for the program, with only about half of the visas each year going to traditional companies that offer long-term employment and can put immigrants on a track to citizenship. The other half go to staffing or consulting firms — and while many are established and well-known companies, others are just one-person operations that wouldn’t exist without the H-1B program.

“They’re basically entering the lottery so they can hire people that they then rent out to other larger companies doing actual work,” Rand said. “And so there’s a lot of misbehavior and chicanery in this part of the system.”

In 2024, lottery bids for the visas plunged nearly 40%, which authorities said was due to success against people who were “gaming the system” by submitting multiple, sometimes dubious, applications to unfairly increase chances of being selected.

Major technology companies that use H-1B visas sought changes after massive increases in bids left their employees and prospective hires with slimmer chances of winning the random lottery. Facing what it acknowledged was likely fraud and abuse, USCIS this year said each employee had only one shot at the lottery, whether the person had one job offer or 50.

Critics welcomed the change but said more needs to be done. The AFL-CIO wrote last year that while changes to the lottery “included some steps in the right direction,” it fell short of needed reforms. The labor group wants visas awarded to companies that pay the highest wages instead of by random lottery, a change that Trump sought during his first term in the White House.

Ortutay reported from Oakland, Calif. Associated Press writer Adriana Gomez Licon in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., contributed to this report.

• Federal judge tosses Trump’s $15B defamation suit against New York Times

Read the executive order

“EXECUTIVE ORDER

“THE GOLD CARD

“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

“Section 1. Purpose. My Administration has worked relentlessly to undo the disastrous immigration policies of the prior administration. Those policies produced a deluge of immigrants, without serious consideration of how those immigrants would affect America’s interests.

“Most significantly, the prior administration permitted millions of aliens to enter the United States illegally, to the detriment of public safety, national security, and the rule of law. International cartels, transnational criminal organizations, terrorists, and foreign malign actors took advantage of those open borders policies. The prior administration also permitted abuse of the refugee process, swamping towns and cities with aliens and, in some cases, forcing them to declare emergencies to combat the crisis.

“It is a priority of my Administration to realign Federal immigration policy with the Nation’s interests by ending illegal immigration and prioritizing the admission of aliens who will affirmatively benefit the Nation, including successful entrepreneurs, investors, and businessmen and women.

“To advance that policy, I hereby announce the Gold Card, a visa program overseen by the Secretary of Commerce that will facilitate the entry of aliens who have demonstrated their ability and desire to advance the interests of the United States by voluntarily providing a significant financial gift to the Nation.

“Sec. 2. The Gold Card. (a) The Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall establish a “Gold Card” program authorizing an alien who makes an unrestricted gift to the Department of Commerce under 15 U.S.C. 1522 (or for whom a corporation or similar entity makes such a gift) to establish eligibility for an immigrant visa using an expedited process, to the extent consistent with law and public safety and national security concerns. The requisite gift amount shall be $1 million for an individual donating on his or her own behalf and $2 million for a corporation or similar entity donating on behalf of an individual.

“(b) In adjudicating visa applications, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, consistent with applicable law, treat the gift specified in subsection (a) of this section as evidence of eligibility under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(1)(A), of exceptional business ability and national benefit under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(2)(A), and of eligibility for a national-interest waiver under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(2)(B).

“(c) The Secretary of Commerce shall deposit the gifts contributed under subsection (a) of this section in a separate fund in the Department of the Treasury and use them to promote commerce and American industry, consistent with the statutory authorities of the Department of Commerce, see, e.g., 15 U.S.C. 1512.

“Sec. 3. Implementation. The Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, within 90 days of the date of this order, take all necessary and appropriate steps to implement the Gold Card program. Among other things, they shall, to the extent consistent with applicable law and their respective statutory authorities, including the limits on the numbers of visas specified in 8 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.:

“(a) Establish a process for application and expedited adjudication of Gold Card petitions, visa issuance, and adjustment of status.

“(b) Specify the date on which applicants (or sponsors if applicable) may begin to submit gifts for consideration under the Gold Card program.

“(c) Establish a process for a Gold Card holder sponsored by a corporation or similar entity to abandon his or her status and for the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security to consider the original gift as evidence of eligibility under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(1)(A), of exceptional business ability and national benefit under 8 U.S.C. 1153 (b)(2)(A), and of eligibility for a national-interest waiver under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(2)(B), for a different individual specified by the corporation or similar entity. The transferee shall otherwise be subject to the same procedures as an original visa applicant, including appropriate screening for public safety and national security.

“(d) Establish administrative fees to cover the cost of expedited processing under subsection (a) of this section.

“(e) Establish maintenance and transfer fees for corporations or similar entities sponsoring individuals under the Gold Card program.

“(f) Consider expanding the Gold Card program to visa applicants under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5).

“Sec. 4. Severability. If any provision of this order, or the application of any provision to any person, is held to be invalid, the remaining provisions and applications shall not be affected thereby.

“Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

“(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

“(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

“(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

“(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

“(d) The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of Commerce.

“DONALD J. TRUMP

“THE WHITE HOUSE,

“September 19, 2025.”

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