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Introduction
On the 19th September the US government released an executive order announcing the creation of a new Gold Card Program for foreign nationals seeking permanent residence in the US. The program will enable applicants to obtain Permanent Residency through a payment of $1 million to the US government and for corporate sponsors to qualify a foreign national employee with a payment of $ 2 million.
The funds received through these applications are intended to fund US commerce and industry. The executive order requires the program to be implemented within 90 days.
Impact
Low
What has changed?
The new Gold Card Program will open up a route for individuals to be eligible for Permanent Residency in the US with a payment of $1 million and for corporations to sponsor individuals by paying $2 million under the “Corporate Gold Card” program.
The Gold Card Program is to be implemented over a 90 day period, during which time the authorities will need to clarify if the payment will apply only to the main applicant or if an additional payment will be required for dependants. Furthermore, the specific timing of the payment has not yet been made clear.
The payment will serve as evidence of the foreign national’s calibre and ability to meet the criteria of the EB-1 extraordinary ability or EB-2 exceptional ability visa categories and for a national interest waiver (NIW) of the labor certification requirement to be applied. Applicants will also still be required to pass the existing background checks and vetting.
Furthermore, as with the current EB-1 or EB-2 permanent residence applications, a corresponding visa number must be available. This means that the payment of the qualifying $1 million or $2 million does not eliminate the current visa backlog issues that apply to a particular nationality or visa category.
Interestingly, in relation to the Corporate Gold Card Program, the $2million payment does not need to be applicable to a particular individual. If the original foreign national sponsored by the company exits the process or relinquishes their status, the position can be reused for another individual without requiring the $2milliion to be paid again.
In addition to the aforementioned payments, a nonrefundable processing fee will apply for each application and the corporate sponsor will be required to pay a small annual maintenance fee, which has yet to be specified.
The US administration also announced the intention to launch a “Platinum Card” program, although this was not included as part of the executive order issued on the 19th September. According to the general information added to the Gold Card website, under the Platinum program, foreign nationals who pay a fee of $ 5 million to the US government will be permitted to live in the US for up to 270 days per year without being subject to US taxes. At present further information and timelines are pending in relation to the Platinum Card.
What you need to do
For further information on US permanent residence opportunities, please contact the Sterling Lexicon immigration team at [email protected]
