Trump touts $5 million immigrant "Trump card," says waitlist is open

President Trump's $5 million pathway for wealthy immigrants to achieve legal U.S. residency now has a website where aspiring visa holders can join a waitlist for what he's calling the "Trump card."

In a social media post late Wednesday, Mr. Trump said that "thousands have been calling and asking how they can sign up to ride a beautiful road in gaining access to the Greatest Country and Market anywhere in the World," referring to the United States.

"FOR FIVE MILLION $DOLLARS, THE TRUMP CARD IS COMING," he wrote in the post.

The president first unveiled the new pathway in February, when he termed it a "gold card" that would be aimed at wealthy foreigners who want to bypass the typical pathways to earn legal residency. The term is a play on the permanent residency card, colloquially known as a "green card," which allows non-citizens to live and work permanently in the U.S.

In his Wednesday post, the president included a link to the card's new website, Trumpcard.gov, whose landing page reads, "The Trump Card is Coming." The site instructs applicants to enter their personal information in order to be notified "the moment access opens."

The website also features an image of the gold card, which is decorated with images of Mr. Trump's face and the Statue of Liberty, the term "5M" and Mr. Trump's signature.

At Trumpcard.gov, applicants are instructed to provide their first and last names; indicate whether they are applying for the card as an individual, business, or other entity; and whether they are applying for themselves, or on behalf of their spouse, family or someone else.

They're also asked to choose from a list of eight regions that they're from, which include:

• Europe
• Asia (including the Middle East)
• North America
• Oceania
• Central America
• South America
• Caribbean
• Africa

Potential applicants are also asked to submit an email address to be added to a waitlist.

In a March speech, Mr. Trump had described the $5 million card as being "like the green card, but better and more sophisticated. And these people will have to pay tax in our country." Like the green card, the new card could help holders achieve citizenship, Mr. Trump said at the time.

"It's a road to citizenship for people — and essentially people of wealth or people of great talent, where people of wealth pay for those people of talent to get in, meaning companies will pay for people to get in and to have long, long term status in the country," he said earlier this year.

However, there are questions about whether Mr. Trump has the authority to issue such cards because any new visa program must be approved by Congress through legislation, according to immigration law firm Herman Legal Group.

The Trump administration could use an immigration authority called "parole," which was used by former President Biden to allow many immigrants to enter the U.S. legally, the Cato Institute noted.

"[H]is administration has taken the position that this type of 'categorical' parole is unlawful," the Cato Institute noted. "It is doubtful that wealthy people would pay $5 million for something with dubious legal standing or a temporary status that could be rescinded at any time."

The Trump administration has said it intends for the Trump card to replace the EB-5 visa, which was launched in 1990 and allows non-citizens to obtain a residency visa in exchange for investing in the U.S. and committing to creating jobs for U.S. citizens.

Earlier this year, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in remarks at the Oval Office that the EB-5 visa program is "full of nonsense, make believe and fraud."

In his March speech, Mr. Trump also said that he believes the U.S. could sell roughly 1 million of the cards, and raise $5 trillion.