Lawsuit Challenges Trump’s ‘Gold Card’ Visa Program

Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times,

A national university faculty group is suing to shut down President Donald Trump’s “Gold Card” visa, arguing that the new, expedited pathway to permanent residency for wealthy foreigners is unlawful.

In a lawsuit filed Feb. 3 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and several foreign professionals say the program benefits rich applicants at the expense of “qualified, merit-based” candidates, such as scientists, engineers, and doctors.

The Trump Gold Card program, which formally went live on Dec. 10, 2025, was created by executive order and described by the president as a “green card on steroids.” Individual applicants must pay a nonrefundable $15,000 processing fee to enter the pipeline and, after clearing background checks, make a $1 million “gift” to the government.

Employers can apply for a corporate Gold Card for workers by paying the same $15,000 fee plus a $2 million contribution per employee.

The Gold Card does not have its own visa category. Instead, Trump’s executive order directs agencies to use existing EB-1 “extraordinary ability” and EB-2 “exceptional ability” green card categories and to treat the required payments as evidence that the applicant will substantially benefit the United States.

Both EB-1 and EB-2 categories fall under the employment-based immigration system, which is capped at 140,000 visas annually. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), EB-1 and EB-2 visas account for about 80,000 of those slots.

Because those green cards are limited and already in high demand, the AAUP lawsuit says, opening a fast lane for Gold Card applicants will increase wait times for existing applicants, forcing them to remain longer on temporary visas and disrupting the work they do.

“Rather than reserving those visas for the world’s best and brightest, the Gold Card program converts the visas into revenue-generating commodities sold to those who can pay $1 million or more,” the complaint states.

The plaintiffs argue that the Gold Card conflicts with the Immigration and Nationality Act’s merit-focused criteria for EB-1 and EB-2 visas. They also contend that, at the very least, the administration violated procedural law by skipping the customary notice-and-comment rulemaking before rolling out the program.

Among the individual plaintiffs are a Colombian electronic engineer, a Taiwanese cancer biologist, and a Mexican biomedical scientist. All are seeking EB-1 or EB-2 green cards and say the Gold Card will push them further back in an already backlogged system.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare the Gold Card unlawful and halt its continued operation. It names the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security, Commerce, and State, the USCIS, and officials involved in creating and administering the program as defendants.

The agencies did not respond to requests for comment.

While opponents of the Gold Card warn that it will drive away talent, Trump has described the program as a way for companies to retain highly skilled graduates from elite American colleges who might otherwise have to leave the country after finishing their studies.

“They graduate from the top schools,” Trump said last December. “These people want to hire them. Now you’re able to buy a card and you’re able to keep people in the country.”

According to the president, more than $1.3 billion from Gold Cards was generated in the program’s first week.

The administration is also developing a Trump “Platinum Card,” which would require a $5 million payment and allow foreign nationals to spend up to 270 days a year in the United States without being subject to U.S. taxes on income earned abroad. That program has not yet launched but is already accepting sign-ups for a waiting list.