Trump floats $5 million 'gold card' as a route to US citizenship

By Steve Holland and Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday floated the idea of replacing a visa program for foreign investors with a so-called "gold card" that could be bought for $5 million as a route to American citizenship.

Trump told reporters he will replace the "EB-5" immigrant investor visa program, which allows foreign investors of large sums of money that create or preserve U.S. jobs to become permanent residents, with a so-called "gold card."

The EB-5 program grants "green cards" to foreigners promising to invest in U.S. businesses.

"We are going to be selling a gold card," Trump said. "We are going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million," he added.

"It's going to give you green card privileges plus its going to be a route to (American) citizenship, and wealthy people would be coming into our country by buying this card," Trump said, adding that details about the scheme will come out in two weeks.

Trump added it is possible Russian oligarchs could qualify for the gold cards, when asked by a journalist if those people would be eligible. "Yeah, possibly. Hey. I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people," he said.

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, administered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, was created by Congress in 1990 to "stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors," according to the USCIS website.

"The EB-5 program ... it was full of nonsense, make believe and fraud, and it was a way to get a green card that was low price. So the president said, rather than having this sort of ridiculous EB-5 program, we're going to end the EB-5 program. We're going to replace it with the Trump gold card," Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Kanishka Singh; Editing by Mary Milliken and Lincoln Feast.)