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By Peter Aitken
Politics Weekend Editor
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Billionaire Elon Musk on Sunday confirmed through a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the previously discussed $5 million "gold card" immigration visa will be rolled out sooner than later as the government finishes a "quiet trial" of the system.
Newsweek reached out to the White House by email outside of normal business hours on Sunday for comment.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump focused heavily on illegal immigration during his 2024 presidential campaign, promising to enact mass deportations after taking office—a promise he kept, and with much public backing even as polling indicated that he was losing public trust on other issues.
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However, while trying to deport illegal immigrants, the administration has looked at expanding certain legal avenues of immigration—most famously encapsulated in the fierce debate around the H-1B employment-based visa for high-skilled workers.
Trump floated the idea of a "gold card" visa that cost $5 million that would replace the EB-5 visa and fast track immigration into the U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the administration had sold 1,000 of the cards in a week to raise $5 billion in a single day.
What To Know
Musk, who renamed himself "Gorklon Rust" on X, responded to a post by internet personality Mario Nawfal that discussed some new aspects of the Gold Card – chiefly that it has a government domain website with digital infrastructure built by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and has already been integrated into the U.S. immigration system.
"It's the high-roller fast lane to U.S residency: no woke quotas, no endless backlogs - just cash, credentials, and country club-level vetting. Trump wants to sell 1 million of them. Lutnick says 1,000 already sold. Elite access. Elite minds. Elite price. Welcome to immigration, Trump-style," Nawfal wrote.
Musk responded to the post by saying that the government is conducting a "quiet trial" of the system to make sure it "works properly," and "once it is fully tested, it will be rolled out to the public with an announcement by the president."
Lutnick previously claimed that the program had 250,000 applicants. The card carries additional benefits, such as exempting the holder from paying U.S. taxes on their overseas income.
Trump revealed the card to reporters aboard Air Force One last month, with his face emblazoned on it, calling it the "Trump Card."
Announced as part of a broader immigration system overhaul, the initiative signals the president's focus on investment-driven immigration. Supporters argue it could bring significant capital into the U.S., while critics contend that the priority should be attracting skilled talent instead.
Under the existing EB-5 program, applicants must pay between $100,000 and $200,000 in fees to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), invest between $800,000 and $1 million, and create at least 10 jobs for American workers.
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What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump previously said in the Oval Office: "It's going to be a route to citizenship, and wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card. They will be wealthy, they will be successful, they will be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes."
Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said in an interview with Semafor last month: "We're trying to come up with some legislation that would make that happen. It is sort of the ultimate merit-based immigration. And if we continue to attract the smartest, most accomplished people from around the world to America, that's good for all of us."
Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, previously told Newsweek in a statement: "You don't need to have $5 million in your bank account to build a successful company in America. Just look at Sergey Brin, Sundar Pichai, or Satya Nadella. We should welcome talented workers to America who will bring their creativity and productivity while also reforming the H1-B program to prevent abuses."
What Happens Next?
It remains unclear when the program will launch and start admitting immigrants, but Musk has indicated that the "quiet test" would be the last step prior to a rollout.
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