【ARCFE Blog】 EB-5 vs. Gold Card

In December 2025, the Gold Card (or Trump Gold Card) launched with some fanfare and much confusion. After all, the Gold Card sets out to solve a problem that already has a solution.

What is the Gold Card?

The Gold Card is a one-time gift of $1 million by an individual or a $2 million gift made by an employer on behalf of an employee. Also, yet to be launched is the Platinum Card, for a $5 million contribution, one can spend up to 270 days in the United States without being subject to U.S. taxes on non-U.S. income.

The implementation of the Gold Card has not created a new Green Card Category, it instead allows the "gifter" to choose to be included in either the EB-1 or EB-2 categories. Categories that already have extensive backlogs for many countries. There is no indication that being a Gold Card applicant allows one to jump ahead of the queue in these backlogged categories.

The path for Gold Card applicants begins with a $15,000 nonrefundable filing fee, paid on the Gold Card website, along with submitting the I-140G form. The next step would be a background check undertaken by USCIS, where they will assess whether the gifted funds have been obtained through lawful means. Following approval of the application the applicant will gift the required funds to the Department of Commerce. Then the applicant will wait for visa availability in either the EB1 or EB-2 categories and then proceed with Consular Processing. Interestingly, the Gold Card website estimates this whole process takes “weeks.” 

Some other important notes include:

• Each dependent family member currently requires an additional gift of $1,000,000 and nonrefundable filing fee of $15,000.

• The Gold Card requires a gift, not an investment. Meaning that the applicant does not get the million dollars returned.

• With the Employer Sponsored Gold Card, the employer may change the subject employee without having to pay the additional two million, but the employer will have to pay a fee.

• At this time there is no adjustment of status option with the Gold Card, therefore requiring consular processing.

Conversely, the EB-5 Visa exists which requires an investment of either $800,000 or $1,050,000 into a U.S. Business or Project that generates 10 US jobs and requires the investment to be held in place for at least two years. Whether the business or project successfully returns the investment is irrelevant as far as USCIS is concerned. The EB-5 visa's process currently allows adjustment of status in certain circumstances, meaning that for those who qualify there is no requirement to leave the U.S. for Consular Processing.

Comparing Legality EB-5 vs Gold Card

The EB-5 Visa has a long standing pathway for immigrants. The Gold Card on the other hand is expected to face legal challenges as its creation was not through the typical congressional approval. It is highly likely to be challenged in Federal Court and in the event of termination of the program it is unknown if applicants who provided gifts will be eligible to get their funds returned. Furthermore, since the Gold Card was not created with an underlying set of laws it could be subject more easily to rule changes.

EB-5 investment can be $800,000 for TEA qualified projects, while the lowest price for the Gold Card is $1 million. Spouses and unmarried children under 21, can be listed as dependents on EB-5 petitions without a further cost for investment, while each additional family member with the Gold Card will require a new $1 million payment. Successful EB-5 projects have the opportunity to return the invested amount with a Return on Interest, while the Gold Card gift is not refundable. Lastly, EB-5 has its own Visa Bulletin Category, where the reserved categories of Rural, High Unemployment Area, and Infrastructure are all current, while the EB-1 and EB-2 categories face higher levels of retrogression.

What remains to be seen will be the scrutiny into the Source of Funds review for the gift given with the Gold Card. Considering USCIS conducts review of both EB-5 and Gold Card Sources of Funds it would be strange if they used different levels of scrutiny.

While the Trump Administration wants the Gold Card to succeed it seems like the Gold Card’s main appeal is to a much smaller market, consisting of highly wealthy individuals who are from countries with no Retrogression in the EB-1 and EB-2 categories that would rather take the potential speed of a Gold Card over the much cheaper EB-5 Visa or other immigration alternatives..

*This article is written based on research of information regarding the Gold Card and is not legal advice.

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