Think Immigration: Trying to Read the Tea Leaves: EB-5 Visas and President Trump’s “Gold Card” Idea
On February 25, 2025, President Trump talked about a plan to end the EB-5 program and instead introduce a new “Gold Card” visa. This announcement has understandably confused existing and prospective EB-5 investors, with limited and often contradictory details swirling around.
President Trump initially stated that he would replace the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program with a new “gold card” program that will grant permanent residency in exchange for investments of $5 million. Subsequently, the Administration suggested that the gold card program would somehow be interconnected, via the Department of Commerce, with the existing EB-5 Program but provided few details regarding eligibility criteria or the application process. The President noted that additional information would be provided in approximately two weeks from the date of the announcement. As of the date of this post, it is unclear if the Administration will seek to repeal or alter the existing EB-5 Program authorized pursuant to the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), nor is it clear what the legal and procedural contours of this proposed Gold Card investment program will be.
RESTRICTIONS ON THE PRESIDENT’S ABILITY TO UNILATERALLY CHANGE THE LAW
As a matter of law, it is important to remember that the President cannot unilaterally end or change the EB-5 program. The EB-5 program was created by Congress in 1990 and was recently codified in the Immigration and Nationality Act via the RIA. Any attempt to eliminate or replace it requires legislative action. Repeal of an existing statute like the RIA would require a typically lengthy legislative process, including introduction of legislation into both chambers of Congress, referral to appropriate committees of jurisdiction for debate, reconciliation of any differences between the House and Senate versions, floor debate and passage of the bill by both the House and Senate. Repeal of the existing RIA would likely take months, if not significantly longer, to achieve.
Additionally, the RIA reauthorized the Regional Center (RC) program through September 30, 2027. which means that, unless Congress repeals it, or passes a new or amended law, we expect that the current RC Program will remain in place until then. However, it is possible, given the President’s announcement, that the RC Program will not be renewed in its current form beyond September 30, 2027. A new program with a minimum threshold investment of $5 million could potentially take its place, but only after Congressional action and only after the legal and procedural details of this program have been fully disclosed and debated.
WHAT HAPPENS TO PENDING APPLICATIONS IF THE EB-5 PROGRAM IS NOT RE-AUTHORIZED?
Investors who file their Form I-526/I-526E petitions while the current program is authorized, until September 30, 2026, are currently protected under the RIA's grandfathering clause. This means petitions and applications filed before that date should be processed to final adjudication even if future legislative changes occur. To be safe, filing earlier than September 30, 2026, would be strongly recommended.
INVESTMENT IMMIGRATION & THE U.S. ECONOMY
Investment immigration is not going away. If anything, the press conference reaffirms that it is critical and important to the U.S. economy and fits squarely within an "America First" agenda.
Based on data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), between the effective date of the RIA and the summer of 2024, the RC Program brought $6.1 billion of investment into various rural and urban communities in the United States. That figure will only increase once the hundreds of millions of dollars that have been invested under the EB-5 Program in the last eight months are added.
While the President’s announcement took the EB-5 community by surprise, we should welcome discussions to extend the current RC Program and potentially add a new visa category with new visa numbers that allows for a “Gold Card” program for directed investments.
The need for an overhaul of the current immigration system to allow for more agile and dynamic options that readily respond to the needs of a globally connected population has been discussed many times before. We hope that this proposal for a new “Gold Card” investment visa category is the spark that reignites these discussions and creates a new investment immigration opportunity for the betterment of the U.S. economy.