The Trump administration has permitted one “gold card” visa since beginning to settle for functions for the brand new U.S. residency allow in December, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated on Thursday.
Lutnick, who provided the replace whereas testifying at a Home subcommittee listening to, stated that the method for making use of for the gold card visa was lately finalized with the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety, which oversees this system. The visa program is out there to foreigners who pay a $1 million donation to the U.S. authorities.
“They’ve permitted, lately, one particular person, and there are tons of within the queue,” Lutnick stated Thursday. “They needed to verify they did it completely.”
He added that the vetting course of for gold card candidates is “essentially the most critical … within the historical past of presidency.”
President Trump introduced this system final yr, touting it as an expedited path for rich foreigners to safe authorized residency within the U.S. and as a strategy to generate authorities income. Functions for the brand new visa went stay in December, with the federal government web site for the gold card stating that it could assist foreigners obtain residency approval in “report time.”
Candidates for the visa pay $15,000 in processing charges to the Division of Homeland Safety, along with the $1 million donation. Homeland Safety referred questions on this system to the Commerce Division.
Lutnick did not disclose particulars in regards to the particular person permitted for the gold card visa, and the Commerce Division did not instantly return a request for remark.
Requested by Rep. Grace Meng, a Democrat from New York, how the $1 million donations from this system shall be used, Lutnick stated that the cash shall be directed towards “the betterment” of the U.S.
“That shall be decided by the administration,” he stated.
