US firms can now hire Indian graduates under ’gold card’ citizenship plan: Trump

Mangalore Today News Network

United States, February 27, 2025: US President Donald Trump has said that American companies will now be able to hire Indian graduates from US universities under the new ’gold card’ citizenship initiative. The announcement, which comes as a major boost for Indian students, follows his unveiling of the ’gold card’ on Wednesday - a pathway to US citizenship for wealthy foreign investors willing to pay USD 5 million.

Trump highlighted how the current immigration system has prevented top international talent, particularly from India, from staying and working in the US.

"A person comes from India, China, Japan, lots of different places, and they go to Harvard, the Wharton School of Finance... they are made job offers, but the offer is immediately rescinded because you have no idea whether that person can stay in the country," he said.

Speaking about the consequences of this policy, Trump acknowledged that many talented graduates who were forced to leave the US ended up becoming successful entrepreneurs in their home countries.

"They go back to India, or they go back to the country where they came from, and they open up a company, and they become billionaires. They’re employing thousands of people," he said, emphasising the missed economic opportunity for the US.

Trump’s new gold card program is being pitched as a premium version of the existing Green Card, offering long-term residency and a pathway to citizenship. The initiative is also being framed as a way to generate revenue for the US economy. "If we sell a million, that’s USD 5 trillion dollars," Trump said, suggesting that the money could be used to pay off national debt.

The plan would replace the existing EB-5 visa program, which grants residency to investors who spend at least USD 1 million on businesses that employ ten or more people. Trump believes the gold card will be a game-changer.

"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, and we think it’s going to be extremely successful," he said.

The program, driven by Trump’s ’everything’s business’ mindset, is likely to come into effect by April, with around 10 million such gold card visas likely to be up for grabs initially.

How is Gold Card visa different from EB-5?

The contrast between the existing EB-5 program and the proposed ’gold card’ visa is striking. Under the EB-5 scheme, foreign investors must invest between USD 800,000 and USD 1.05 million in US businesses while also creating at least 10 jobs. Additionally, applicants face a long wait of 5–7 years for a green card. Since its launch in 1990, the program has been marred by allegations of fraud and misuse.

In comparison, the ’gold card’ visa significantly raises the financial threshold to USD 5 million-five times the EB-5 requirement-offering a much faster and more streamlined path to US residency. The new scheme eliminates the job creation mandate, making it a hassle-free option, though its steep price tag puts it beyond the reach of mid-tier investors.