President Donald Trump announced a new Gold Card program that would create a paid pathway to U.S. citizenship, saying it is a shame that top students from India and China currently must return home. The proposal links a special visa to individuals who can demonstrate a substantial benefit to the United States.
At a White House roundtable, Trump described the initiative as a way to attract exceptional talent. He said business leaders, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, have raised concerns that employers cannot keep high-performing graduates who are forced to leave after completing their degrees.
Trump was joined by IBM CEO Arvind Krishna and Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell as he said the Gold Card website is live and that companies will be able to buy cards to retain recruits from leading universities such as Wharton, Harvard and MIT.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick explained the fee and screening structure: $1 million for an individual card and $2 million for a corporate card, with full vetting intended to ensure recipients meet strict qualifications. Under the plan, cardholders would be eligible to pursue citizenship after five years, at which point a company could transfer a purchased card to another employee.
