Golden Visa: Where You Can Buy Residence Permits

After its unveiling in April and a highly popular waitlist launch in June, the Trump administration’s proposed golden visa program seems to be stalling. Named “the Gold Card” and later “the Trump Card”, it promises U.S. residency to wealthy individuals for a $5 million investment in the country. While Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced the card would be made from real precious metal, all that glitters is not gold for the project that reportedly lacks legal grounding and faces an uncertain future.

President Donald Trump said in April on board the Air Force One that a launch was less than two weeks away. However, by the beginning of August, no news on the topic has been shared and no law has been introduced in Congress despite almost 70,000 waitlist entries reportedly having been creating in less than a week after the launch of Trumpcard.gov on June 11.

Experts interviewed on the topic by CNBC have raised legal concerns surrounding the program. While Trump said he wanted to replace the current EB-5 program, which ties residency to the creation of an approximately $1 million new business, this would require unlikely Congressional approval. Another major issue is the U.S. tax code that taxes global income, which is not attractive for immigrant investors. Trump said he wants this changed, which again would be a major hurdle.

At the same time, interest in the U.S. golden visa is still very high as several similar programs in Europe have recently shut down in Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands while more were tightened amid government changes and criticism of the concept. The U.S. proposal has also supposedly received increased interest in light of Trump’s threat to abolish birthright citizenship - yet another proposal marred in legal issues. On July 24, a federal appeals court handed Trump a defeat in the matter, saying that the executive order on the topic was unconstitutional.

Data by law firm Henley & Partners shows which golden visa or comparable schemes continue to exist for wealthy people around the world. Some of the most prolific include remaining ones inside the European Union, giving access to a Schengen visa. Countries currently offering golden visas in the EU include Italy, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and Malta. The United Arab Emirates have also become a popular destination for wealthy immigrants and offer a similar program. As the data shows, countries in the English-speaking world, including the U.S. itself, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, have so far only offered more restrictive options, giving residency to certain high-profile business founders who want to start operations in critical sectors or can create a certain number of jobs.

While types of investor visas differ, so do investment sums and how they are paid. Buying real estate is one popular option, but most golden visa countries offer several different options to secure a residence permit, including starting or investing in a business, investing in stocks or bonds locally or making a direct contribution to the government. In the EU, investment sums typically range between $250,000 and $500,000, with Latvia the outlier at just $60,000. Non-EU nations Serbia and Montenegro have been trying to get in on the southern European golden visa boom and are offering residency for any real estate purchase or if an applicant wants to start a business in the country and shell out the annual cost associated with it.

Beyond Europe, investment sums can be lower starting at $50,000 in Mauritius, $100,000 in Panama and $150,000 in Costa Rica. Nations including Italy, Austria, Costa Rica, Monaco and Uruguay also allow financially independent people to live within their countries. Finally, some places including Switzerland and Thailand want immigrant investors to benefit them more directly. The Swiss visa is tied to a minimum $250,000 annual tax contribution, while Thailand charges directly for its so-called Privilege Residence Program, starting at $25,000 for five years. While the cost is low in comparison, the program is not directly tied to a permanent, but rather a temporary residency.