Immigration solicitor Sarah Khawaja comments on Donald Trump’s proposal to establish golden visas in the US, how similar visas work internationally, and the potential impact on HNW and UHNW individuals.
Sarah’s comments were published in The Telegraph, 4 April 2025.
“Full details of how the system would work are yet to be disclosed, however, Trump’s stating that further details will be revealed when the visas go on ‘sale’, is a strong indicator that this route will require little more than money.
This will be an overhaul of the existing ‘EB-5 program’ which is a scheme requiring an investment of approximately $1 million and employment of 10 people. Although they are not strictly like for like schemes, they will ultimately be attracting the same sort of applicants and that’s why the comparisons are being made.
From what we know so far, the main requirement is that you have $5 million, which you can exchange for a route to citizenship. This is unlike other visa routes which have varied and complex requirements for eligibility.
HNWs and UHNWs will jump at the chance to apply. The current routes which require operating a business, similar to our current situation in the UK, are abhorrent to people with serious wealth and Trump knows that this is a very attractive scheme.
The downside does not seem to be for the applicants but rather for the existing US citizens as there is already so much anxiety about rich oligarchs coming in and driving up property prices.”
