The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has taken a key preliminary step toward the launch of the ‘Gold Card’ permanent-residence program, an initiative which could allow foreign nationals to gain lawful permanent residence in the US via a large government donation.Under the plan—a component of the broader immigration agenda of the Trump administration—the USCIS has submitted a draft Form I-140G for review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) – an agency within the President’s Executive Office. The OMB review is a required step before the form can be officially used.
Key features of the proposed program
According to the draft instructions:
- An individual applicant would be required to donate US $1 millionto the US Treasury in order to be eligible for the Gold Card permanent-residence. Corporate or employer-sponsored applications would require a donation of US $2 million.
- The fee for the application is anticipated to be US $15,000 per applicant.
- The process would entail three steps:
- Filing a Gold Card application with the US Department of Commerce.
- Paying the non-refundable US $15,000 fee via pay.gov,
- Filing Form I-140G with USCIS which would enable the agency to assess the applicant’s eligibility for the new immigrant visa category, and to vet the donated funds to ensure they originate from a lawful source.
“Once the application is approved and an immigrant visa number is available, the applicant must complete consular processing overseas through the US Department of State to be admitted as a lawful permanent resident. The draft instructions do not specify how adjustment of status (for those already in the US) will work, though that option is expected to be made available,” said Mitch Wexler, senior counselor at Fragomen, a global immigration law firm.USCIS estimates that approximately 1,000 individuals per year may file the Form I‐140G. Wexler points out that: “Though the draft form is an important step toward implementation of the Gold Card program, the process has not been finalized and USCIS and the Department of Commerce are not yet accepting applications. Further details on the process are expected in the coming weeks as the implementing agencies work toward the December 18 deadline.,The government has not yet provided any details on a related Platinum Card program, which was not announced in President Trump’s September executive order but appears as an option on the Administration’s Gold Card website. “According to the website, the Platinum Card program would allow a foreign national who makes a $5 million payment to the US government (plus processing fee) to live in the United States for up to 270 days each year without being subject to US taxes on non-US income,” said Wexler.For wealthy foreign nationals seeking US permanent residence, this “Gold Card” pathway presents a high-cost but potentially fast-track route. For the US immigration system, the program signals a shift toward monetized immigration channels—raising questions about fairness, national interest priorities, and the treatment of traditional employment- or family-based green-card applicants.
What to watch for
- Official publication of the Form I-140G and related instructions.
- Clarification of how adjustment of status will work for applicants already in the US under this program.
- Timeline for when applications will be accepted after OMB approval.
- How the donor funds will be defined, verified and audited to ensure lawful origin.
- Whether the ‘Platinum Card’ program will be formally launched and how it will operate.
- Reactions from Congress, immigration-law practitioners and the broader immigrant-community advocacy groups.
