Wealthy individuals given access, experts barred by Trump's new policy
The US government is set to implement two new immigration programs, the "Gold Card" and the "Platinum Card," with ambitious revenue expectations. The "Gold Card" program, resembling the "Green Card" in its rights, is expected to generate over $100 billion, while the "Platinum" program aims to bring in around $1 trillion.
The "Gold Card" program offers permanent residency in the US for a fee of $2 million. Unlike the "Green Card," it does not guarantee a path to citizenship. The "Platinum Card," requiring Congressional approval, would allow up to 270 days of stay per year without paying US taxes on income earned outside the US. However, it too does not lead to citizenship.
The Trump administration plans to charge a fee of $100,000 (currently around $85,000) per year for the H-1B visa category, a fee increase intended to burden the US tech industry. The H-1B visa, frequently used by companies to bring in qualified employees, currently only costs a processing fee of a few thousand US dollars.
The tech industry's efforts to build a closer relationship with the Trump administration for months have been unsuccessful in changing the visa rules. CEOs of major tech companies have been trying to influence the administration, but their efforts seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
Trump's allies have been criticizing the H-1B visa for some time, claiming it takes jobs away from American employees. The administration leaves a backdoor open for exemptions for individuals, companies, or entire industries if the government recognizes a national interest in deploying certain specialized skills.
In a White House announcement, Lutnick stated that US companies should now consider if a job candidate is valuable enough to pay an additional $100,000 to the government on top of their salary, or if they should hire American workers instead.
The legal sustainability of the "Gold Card" program is uncertain. Many immigrants who came to the country with an H1B visa have greatly contributed to the success of Silicon Valley, with many of them coming from India. Trump still claims that the tech companies would be "very happy" with the new regulation.
Unrelated to the H-1B visa discussion, the City of Hamm welcomes new bidding rules in NRW, and a Math Olympiad has started in Hamm. An industrial area in Rhynern invites everyone. Meanwhile, Trump has promoted the "Trump Gold Card" on his Truth Social platform, and a "Trump Platinum Card" is also planned, although its details are yet to be fully disclosed.
