President Trump’s proposal to grant U.S. citizenship for $5 million via a “golden visa” has ignited debate. Aimed at attracting wealthy investors to spur job growth and reduce national debt, Trump’s “gold card” faces scrutiny over legal authority, security risks, and potential for financial misconduct. While the President claims it will “sell like crazy,” legal barriers mean Congress must approve any such program, leaving its future highly uncertain.
Golden visa: Selling US citizenship to the highest bidder?
President Trump has a new plan in sight: He proposes offering U.S. citizenship for $5 million, a price that he claims will be attractive for “high-level” people seeking to live and work permanently in the U.S. As the President said during a recent press conference, “the people that can pay $5 million, they’re going to create jobs. It’s going to sell like crazy. It’s a bargain”. So far, the White House has not clarified how the government would select candidates.
However, during his State of the Union Address, Trump reaffirmed that the “gold card” will be introduced in the near future, describing it as a “green card but better and more sophisticated.”
Even though Trump seems confident, critics see this new idea of ‘golden visa’ as a possible threat to national security. Will this ‘golden visa’ open a pathway for fraud, corruption and laundry money to stay in the U.S.? Questions that remain unanswered.
Trumps intentions on this visa program extend beyond attracting what he calls “world-class” global citizens. A major plan lays behind and that is to use this ‘golden visas’ to pay the national debt. As Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said, the plan could raise $1 trillion to achieve this purpose. Despite Trump’s optimism,there are important legal boundaries, complicating the quick implementation of the ‘golden visas’.
President Trump can’t create a new law on his own
The President of the United States does not have the power to create a new path to citizenship on his own. Immigration lawyers coincide that the Trump administration has no legal power to create a new visa category and therefore congressman would have to legislate a new program.
This means, that if Congress acts, the EB-5 program as we know it, may be replaced or modified. The EB-5 visa was created by Congress in 1990 and every year statutes define how many can be granted and how much money investors must contribute to participate. The program has created tens of thousands of jobs across the Unites States.
During the 2024 fiscal year, the State Department issued more than 12,000 EB-5 visas, a record high for the program. It remains unclear what will happen with the EB-5 program, though President Donald Trump lacks the legal power to abolish it. For now, EB-5 investors can be assured that the program will remain active, as only Congress can terminate it or refuse to reauthorize it in 2027.
Residency and Citizenship in exchange for money?
It becomes necessary to understand what makes a golden visa ‘golden’ and there are two main reasons. The first one has to do with the price tag attached. People seeking this type of visas necessarily invest in the desired country either by purchasing property, injecting money into the economy or making outright contributions to the government. The second reason has to do with flexibility, this meaning golden visas usually allow people to reside in a desired country with very minimum requirements. This for obvious reasons, causes significant controversy.
Many countries offer residency or citizenship in exchange for money. In most cases, this is what makes “golden visas” or “green cards” profitable and desirable for foreign citizens. However, in recent years, these programs have raised national security concerns in many countries, particularly in Europe. Many European nations fear these programs may facilitate tax evasion, money laundering, and corruption or contribute to real estate bubbles. As a result, some, like Spain, have chosen to stop sponsoring these pathways to residency and citizenship.
Even though red flags may be raised, these programs have continued worldwide. According to the Henley Citizenship Program Index 2025, many countries lead the ranking of golden visa programs.
Countries that stand out for their ‘golden visa’ programs
For the tenth consecutive year, Malta, located in the Mediterranean, holds the number one position in the ranking, followed by Austria, a country that offers premium citizenship for investors, requiring applicants to make a substantial contribution to the country’s economy.
The next two positions (third and fourth place) are occupied by the Caribbean nations of Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda.
Fifth place is shared by three small islands: Nauru (in Micronesia, northeast of Australia), Saint Kitts and Nevis (a dual-island nation situated between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea), and Saint Lucia (an island state in the Caribbean Sea).
Dominica, another Caribbean country, occupies sixth place, followed by Turkey.
On the other side of the Mediterranean, Egypt—the only golden visa option in Africa—holds eighth place, a position it shares with Jordan and North Macedonia.
Ninth place goes to Vanuatu (a South Pacific Ocean nation composed of roughly 80 islands), while tenth place is occupied by Cambodia in Southeast Asia.
Regarding Latin America, according to Henley & Partners, Costa Rica and Panama have become attractive destinations for foreign investors.
In Panama’s case, high-net-worth individuals have significant opportunities to obtain citizenship after five years, either by investing in real estate, the stock market, or making a fixed long-term bank deposit.
Costa Rica has also received a strong rating. It is considered an attractive destination for investors due to its commercial potential and favorable tax regime for businesses. Several pathways exist for investors to obtain citizenship in Costa Rica, including investing in real estate, purchasing stock options in a local business, or investing in the country’s state market.
Will Trump’s ‘golden visa’ make it to the top ten global ranking list?
The real question is how much interest the world’s richest people have in Trump’s scheme. Forbes recently published a study providing an interesting perspective on the subject. Eighteen billionaires from the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa were interviewed to assess their level of interest, and the results were quite surprising.
Thirteen of the billionaires—nearly three-quarters of those polled—said they would not be interested in purchasing Trump’s golden visa. Forbes found that only two billionaires said they would seriously consider buying one.
The Forbes report highlighted that many of these wealthy individuals are not particularly interested in American citizenship and have no desire to leave the countries where they built their businesses and raised their families.
Another reason Forbes highlights why billionaires aren’t attracted to this type of visa is because of tax implications. The U.S. is one of the few nations that taxes its citizens on their worldwide income, regardless of where they reside. This is a major drawback to obtaining citizenship for most of the billionaires polled by Forbes.
Even though Trump said during press conference that he will offer a huge tax break for the golden visa holders and that they will not pay any tax on income outside the United States, this is a deal the President can’t offer without congressional approval. For now, it seems Trump’s bid crosses legal boundaries.