Trump’s $5 million ‘gold card’: Now what it means for Indians being deported
ByTuhin Das Mahapatra
Mar 26, 2025 08:03 AM IST
The Trump administration's immigration policies have raised concerns among Indian immigrants, following comments about green card rights.
With the Donald Trump administration's heightened immigration policies, several Indian individuals on H-1B visas and Green Cards have quite surprisingly been deported or forced to go through detention procedures.
Trump's proposed $5 million gold card visa could benefit wealthy individuals while leaving middle-class professionals in prolonged green card backlogs.(AFP)
Trump's proposed $5 million gold card visa could benefit wealthy individuals while leaving middle-class professionals in prolonged green card backlogs.(AFP)
Now, a fresh wave of anxiety has swept through the Indian immigrant community in the US following Vice President JD Vance’s comment: “A green card does not give an individual an indefinite right to stay in the United States.”
Immigration attorneys are now advising caution, especially for those planning to travel abroad. “The administration is taking the law in their own hands with blatant disregard to the judiciary of the nation,” New York City attorney Naresh Gehi told Newsweek.
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However, the question is now: Can Trump's $5 million “gold card” be a breath of fresh air for Indians amid this green card and H-1B row? With over a million Indians stuck in employment-based green card backlogs—some waiting for over 50 years—this could be the key to the American dream.
What is Trump’s ‘gold card’ visa, and how does it impact Indians?
Trump has proposed a new “gold card” that would replace the EB-5 investor program and offers green card privileges and a path to US citizenship for a $5 million fee.
Unlike the existing EB-5 investor visa, which requires a $800,000-$1.05 million investment in a business that creates at least 10 jobs, the gold card has no such requirements. It is essentially a golden ticket to residency.
Trump himself dismissed EB-5, calling it “full of nonsense, make-believe, and fraud.”
For Indians who have spent decades waiting for a green card through employment-based categories, the gold card could be a faster option for them.
Now, with Trump's “gold card” affluent Indian business tycoons, startup founders, and tech executives could bypass traditional green card queues.
However, on the other font skilled workers on H-1B and EB-2/EB-3 visas who lack the financial means to pay $5 million will continue facing green card delays.
ALSO READ|Why are some Indian H-1B visa and Green Card holders being deported?
Can Indians on H-1B or EB-2/EB-3 visas apply for the gold card?
Yes—if they can afford the $5 million price tag. Trump lamented the gold card as a “road to citizenship for people of wealth or people of great talent, where people of wealth pay for those people of talent to get in.”
“We’ll be able to sell maybe a million of these cards,” the POTUS claimed, even floating the idea of issuing 10 million gold cards to help reduce the US deficit. Unlike EB-5, which had an annual cap, the gold card appears to have no actual limit.
That being said, the green card backlog is so vast that the vast majority of Indian professionals are stuck in it; there’s nothing to make it easier.
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Read breaking news, latest updates from United States on topics related to politics, crime, along with national affairs. Stay up to date with news developments on Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.