A Gold Card program was created by Executive Order on Sept 19, 2025. It directs Commerce (with the U.S. Department of State and DHS) to set up a process that treats a qualifying “gift” to Commerce as evidence for an immigrant visa via an expedited process, “to the extent consistent with law.” The new order proposes to allow individuals to qualify for U.S. permanent residency based on a $1 million “gift” (or $2 million from a corporation), which would be treated as sufficient evidence for eligibility under the EB-1 (extraordinary ability) or EB-2 NIW (national interest waiver) employment-based categories. There are several unresolved aspects, significant legal and policy uncertainties, and widespread expert caution about how this order will affect current and future applicants.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said ~80,000 Gold Cards will be available annually, that approved applicants would become LPRs after vetting (with a $15,000 “vetting fee”), and suggested the Gold Card would replace EB-1 and EB-2. Please note that these are the administration’s claims, not yet any statutory text.
Confirmed Details
There’s a 90-day implementation window. The Departments of Commerce, State, and Homeland Security must establish application mechanics, administrative fees, submission timing, forms, and maintenance/transfer fees for corporate-sponsored cases. They must also specify if/when a corporation can reassign its sponsored beneficiary.
The order does not create a new visa category – only Congress can create new visa categories. It uses the existing EB-1 and EB-2 NIW categories, and the “gift” serves as new qualifying evidence.
A gift to the U.S. government is non-refundable. Once given, it becomes federal property. So, the Gold Card donation does not equate to an investment as in the EB-5 program; there is no return or recovery of the funds.
Applications will be subject to the same numerical caps and per-country backlogs that currently affect the EB-1 and EB-2 categories, notably problematic for Indian and Chinese nationals. Regardless of wealth, applicants from severely backlogged countries will not see faster green cards — their gifts would merely shift them to a different place in the same waiting line.
Why Experts Question the Legality and Fairness of the Gold Card
Virtually all immigration lawyers and analysts agree that the Gold Card currently remains an idea, lacking any operational process, application form, or confirmed regulatory guidance.
There are serious doubts from experts about permanent regulatory changes via an executive order alone, as well as the legal and ethical implications of effectively “selling” green cards via financial gifts, which are widely debated by lawyers and commentators, with concerns that this approach favors the wealthy and diverts opportunity from long-standing applicants based on extraordinary ability merit or national need.
One of the most striking departures in the Gold Card executive order is its allowance for corporations to make the required “gift” on behalf of an employee and even to reassign that gift to another person later. This stands in sharp contrast to the long-standing immigration norms, where benefits are typically attached to the individual applicant rather than the sponsoring entity. By introducing the possibility of corporate ownership and the transfer of an immigration benefit, the EO raises novel questions about fairness, accountability, and whether such a framework is consistent with the principles underlying U.S. immigration law and norms, which tie immigration benefits to individuals, not entities.
Wealth vs. Merit: Policy Questions Raised by the Gold Card Order
Start date & how to file. The EO instructs agencies to announce when gifts can be submitted and to establish the application pipeline, but none of this information is public yet.
Fees. The EO authorizes administrative, maintenance, or transfer fees. CBS mentions a $15k vetting fee, but that’s not in the EO text.
Eligibility checks beyond the gift. Will the USCIS still require evidence beyond the donation (e.g., sustained acclaim for EB-1A, or national-interest criteria for NIW), or will the gift be treated as a near-conclusive showing? The EO’s phrasing (“treat the gift as evidence of eligibility”) is unprecedented.
Per-country caps and backlogs. Because overall and per-country caps still currently apply, what happens if demand surges — do Gold Card applicants wait in line like everyone else in EB-1/EB-2? The EO nods to the caps but offers no allocation method.
Corporate “transfer” of a gift. The EO contemplates allowing a sponsoring company to reassign its “gift” to a new individual if the first recipient abandons their status. How often can that happen? Under what guardrails? Unclear.
Anti-Money Laundering & Compliance. Expect source-of-funds and anti-money-laundering reviews, but any review standards (and any parallels to EB-5 source-of-funds review process or evidence required) have not been published. The EO tells agencies to set screening consistent with the law.
Family members & derivatives. The EO is silent on derivative beneficiaries (spouses and children). Under normal EB categories, derivatives qualify, but agencies haven’t said how they’ll treat Gold Card derivatives yet.
Relationship to EB-5. The EO asks agencies to consider expanding the Gold Card to EB-5; a separate “Platinum Card” idea has been floated publicly and would require congressional approval.
Tax advantages. It is not yet clear whether “Platinum Card” special tax benefits referenced on the program’s marketing site will ever gain legal footing, as these are not mentioned in the actual executive order.
Summary for EB-1 and EB-2 NIW Applicants
- The traditional EB-1 and EB-2 NIW categories remain unchanged. The safest course is to pursue these ASAP using standard evidence, rather than delaying for the Gold Card, which is not yet operational and may never be implemented as currently described.
- The Gold Card program could reshape U.S. immigration if fully implemented, but for now, it remains a “speculative” program pending agency action, possible litigation, and further regulatory clarity.
This landscape is rapidly evolving. All analysts emphasize the importance of monitoring official updates and avoiding reliance on unofficial promises or marketing materials about the Gold Card or Platinum Card until further notice.