US President Donald Trump has unveiled a new immigration proposal — the 'Gold Card' — which offers a direct path to US citizenship for wealthy foreign investors at a price of $5 million (a little over Rs 43.5 crores at the time of publishing).

Announced from the Oval Office, the scheme is being positioned as a "premium version" of the Green Card, allowing long-term residency with a streamlined route to naturalisation, India Today reports.

Unlike the existing EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Programme, which requires foreign investors to commit at least $800,000 in Targeted Employment Areas (TEAs) or $1.8 million elsewhere while creating at least ten jobs, the Gold Card initiative appears to prioritise direct payments over job creation. 

Trump criticised the EB-5 as outdated and inefficient, saying, "We are going to be selling a Gold Card... We're going to put a price on that card of about $5 million."

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, present at the announcement, reinforced Trump's stance, stating, "Rather than having this sort of ridiculous EB-5 programme, we're going to end it. We're going to replace it with the Trump Gold Card."

As reported by India Today, Trump suggested that up to 1 crore (10 million) Gold Cards could be sold to help reduce the national deficit. When asked about eligibility, including for Russian oligarchs, Trump responded, "Yeah, possibly. Hey, I know some Russian oligarchs who are very nice people."

While further details remain unclear, he promised more information within two weeks, calling it "a road to citizenship for people of wealth or people of great talent."