Trump is offering 'gold card' visas for $8 million. Australia might also consider reintroducing a similar program.

Share and Follow

United States President Donald Trump said the gold card visas he plans to introduce will “sell like crazy” to high-net-worth individuals willing to invest US$5 million ($8 million) in the country.

The concept has similarities with Australia’s so-called ‘golden visa’ program that was due to concerns it was being exploited by persons with dirty money and those contributing little to Australia’s economy.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton was filmed telling migration agent Min Li that if he becomes prime minister after , while at a Liberal Party fundraiser earlier this month.

Here’s how the two investment visas compare.

What is Donald Trump’s gold card proposal?

Trump said the visas could be called the Trump visa “if it helps”, and the revenue collected from the gold card visas could be used to pay down the US’ debt.

The Republican president, who has made the deportation of millions of undocumented migrants a priority of his second term, said the new card would be a route to US citizenship.

“A lot of people are going to want to be in this country, and they’ll be able to work and provide jobs and build companies,” Trump said. “It’ll be people with money.”

Sales of the cards would start in about two weeks, he said.

“We’ll be able to sell maybe a million of these cards. We have it all worked out from a legal standpoint,” Trump said.

The billionaire former real estate tycoon said all applicants for the new gold cards would be carefully vetted.

But asked if wealthy Russians would also be able to apply, Trump said it was a possibility.

A stylised map showing countries that offer 'golden visas'. Names of the countries have been listed below the map.

A list of countries that offer ‘golden visas’. Source: SBS News

“Possibly. I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people. It’s possible,” Trump said. “They’re not as wealthy as they used to be.”

US secretary of commerce Howard Lutnick said the initiative will replace the EB-5 visa, which gives permanent residency to some foreigners who invest around US$1 million ($1.6 million) and create at least 10 full-time jobs in the US.

What is Australia’s axed Significant Investor Visa?

The Significant Investor provisional visa (SIV) allowed successful applicants to stay in Australia for up to five years and even offered a pathway to residency for those investing millions locally.

The SIV stream (subclass 188) was introduced by the Julia Gillard government in 2012.

It allowed applicants who invested at least $5 million into approved channels, such as capital and growth private equity funds or Australian Stock Exchange-listed companies, to stay in Australia for up to five years.

There was no English-language requirement for the visa and no upper age limits.

Foreign investors had to show genuine intention to hold the investment for the life of the visa and could apply for permanent residency, provided they met certain requirements.

Criticism emerged that these visas were often granted to older people who did not otherwise contribute to the nation’s productivity.

As of June 2020, 2,349 SIVs had been granted, injecting $11.7 billion into approved investments, according to the Department of Home Affairs.

However, a 2023 Productivity Commission review of the migration system found the visas did not meet their primary objective and instead “have been associated with poorer fiscal outcomes compared with other skilled visas”.

It was estimated that the 5,000 SIVs forecast for that financial year would cost the country up to $3.4 billion compared to if those visas were allocated to skilled independent or employer-sponsored streams.

It concluded there was “no case for retaining this category of permanent visa”.

A year later, then-home affairs minister Clare O’Neil scrapped the subclass, claiming it was being exploited by corrupt officials and a way to “buy your way into the country”.

With additional reporting by Agence France-Presse.