Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said only one Trump “gold card” visa has been approved, with hundreds more applicants still in the queue.
The Trump administration has approved only one “gold card” visa since it began accepting applications in December for the new residency permit, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told lawmakers Thursday.
The program is aimed at foreigners willing to make a $1 million donation to the U.S. government for a faster path to legal residency. Applicants also must pay $15,000 in processing fees to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the program.
Lutnick gave the update during testimony before a House subcommittee, saying the application process had only recently been finalized with Homeland Security. “They have approved, recently, one person, and there are hundreds in the queue,” Lutnick said. “They wanted to make sure they did it perfectly.”
The figure offers a limited early look at a program President Trump promoted last year as both an expedited route for wealthy foreign nationals to live in the United States and a potential source of federal revenue. The government website for the gold card says it can help applicants receive residency approval in “record time,” but Lutnick’s testimony suggests the rollout has so far moved slowly.
Lutnick did not identify the person approved for the visa or provide details about the pending applicants. He said the vetting process for gold card applicants is “the most serious” in the history of government.
Homeland Security referred questions about the program to the Commerce Department, according to the source material. The Commerce Department did not immediately return a request for comment.
Rep. Grace Meng, a New York Democrat, pressed Lutnick on how the $1 million donations would be used. Lutnick said the money would go toward “the betterment” of the United States and added that the administration would decide the specific use.
The next test for the program is whether approvals accelerate now that officials say the application process has been finalized — and whether the administration provides more detail on how donations are handled.
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