February 28, 2025 - US President Trump has said that American companies will be able to offer jobs to talented Indian students studying in the US through the Gold Card initiative. After graduating from Harvard and Wharton College, Indian students will be able to obtain US citizenship, he says. In other words, companies who want to recruit highly-qualified international graduates can retain them in the country by purchasing the Gold Card without concerns of their immigration status.

During the first meeting of his second-term Cabinet, President Trump even suggested that the revenue generated from selling the Gold Card could be used to pay off the national debt.

"I want to be able to have that person stay in the country, these companies can go and buy a Gold Card, and they can use it as a matter of recruitment. At the same time, the company is using that money to pay down debt… we are going to pay down a lot of debt with that, and I think the Gold Card is going to be used not only for that. I mean, they will be used by companies," he said.

Trump said that the current immigration policy has not been effective in retaining the talent of Indian students in the US. Students from India and other countries, after studying in the US, are contributing to the economy of their home countries, he said.

The Gold Card scheme is buying a visa equivalent to the Green Card for $5 million and was announced by Trump on February 26 as an initiative to replace the EB-5 immigrant investor visa programme.

Details of this new scheme would be known in two weeks, according to Trump. However, it appears that the Gold Card will not require an investment in American businesses or the creation of new employment, which is a requirement of the EB-5 visa. Officials say that it will be a direct purchase of a Green Card by paying a fee of $5 million to the US government.

Trump believes that his proposal to sell a “gold card” visa would “sell like crazy”.

“They’ll be wealthy and they’ll be successful and they’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think it’s going to be extremely successful,” Trump said of those who would buy the Gold Card.