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United States.

How United States sells residence for investors (golden visa): 2 residence programmes, 2 of them open today. Every number and rule below links to the document it comes from.

Residence ↓
2
residence programmes
30,924
numbers
146
prices and rules
85
events

99 documents and articles behind this page, listed at the bottom.

Residence

Sells the right to live in the country (a “golden visa”), sometimes leading to citizenship later. United States: 2 residence programmes, 2 of them open today; 30,924 numbers, 146 prices and rules. Every country's residence programmes

All the numbers, sources and downloads for United States in the data portal →

Investor visa (EB-5)Residence

Can lead to citizenship: after five years of permanent residence (a green card).

Status
Lowest price for one person
Applications received
Golden visas issued
Top nationalities
Last change
Gold CardResidence

Can lead to citizenship: it gives ordinary permanent residence, and citizenship can follow after five years.

Status
Lowest price for one person
Last change
Residence·Open·since 1991

Investor visa (EB-5)

Sells the right to live in the country (a “golden visa”), sometimes leading to citizenship later.

Path to citizenship. Can lead to citizenship: after five years of permanent residence (a green card). (from the research notes below)

Official name: EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program (employment-based fifth preference, INA 203(b)(5)), including the Regional Center Program

Lowest price for one person: US$800,000

USD 800,000 in a targeted employment area or infrastructure project (most investors use it); standard amount USD 1,050,000 (t-d0d0ff4593). Automatic inflation adjustment due for petitions from 1 Jan 2027, amount not yet published.

Notes from the research

Created by sec. 121 of the Immigration Act of 1990 (signed 29 Nov 1990; preference system in force from 1 Oct 1991, FY1992). Investors who invest the minimum in a new commercial enterprise creating 10 full-time jobs get two-year conditional permanent residence (green card) for themselves, spouse and children under 21, then file Form I-829 to remove conditions. Naturalisation is possible after five years of permanent residence (8 U.S.C. 1427). Regional Center Program added as a pilot in 1992 (sec. 610, Pub. L. 102-395), repeatedly extended, lapsed 1 July 2021-14 March 2022, reauthorised by the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (Pub. L. 117-103, div. BB) in force from 14 May 2022 through 30 Sep 2027; regional-center petitions filed by 30 Sep 2026 are protected if the program lapses. Annual quota about 7.1% of employment-based visas (10,000 in the 1990 Act), with 20% rural, 10% high-unemployment and 2% infrastructure set-asides since 2022. First automatic inflation adjustment of the minimum investment due for petitions filed from 1 Jan 2027 (amount not yet published as of 2 Oct 2026). Run by USCIS (Immigrant Investor Program Office); visas allocated by the State Department.

Applications received, per budget year
05k10k15k1995200020052010201520202025

The line follows the official figure for each period; faint dots are other sources and earlier versions; a ring marks a period where official sources disagree by more than 2%.

Applications approved, per budget year
05k10k15k199520002005201020152020

The line follows the official figure for each period; faint dots are other sources and earlier versions.

Golden visas issued, per budget year
05k10k15k20042006200820102012201420162018202020222024

The line follows the official figure for each period; faint dots are other sources and earlier versions.

Who buys

Immigrant visa numbers used (visas issued plus adjustments of status), by nationality, per budget year
The 6 largest nationalities in recent years; 230 more are in the data but not drawn, so a bar is not a total. Each piece is one published number: click it for its source.
05k10k15k20k2005200720092011201320152017201920212023
ChinaIndiaVietnamSouth KoreaTaiwanBrazil Official total, all groups

How they invest

Immigrant visa numbers used (visas issued plus adjustments of status), by way of investing, per budget year
The 3 largest routes in recent years; 1 more is in the data but not drawn, so a bar is not a total. Each piece is one published number: click it for its source.
Budget year 2024

Prices and rules

Ways in that apply today (minimum amounts)
Fees today

What is measured

  • Immigrant visa numbers used (visas issued plus adjustments of status)13,250
  • Immigrant visas issued abroad10,664
  • Applications received4,633
  • Estimated impact of a rule change on programme users832
  • Golden visas issued174
  • Programme filings received (all or other forms)154
  • Applications approved79
  • Petitions to remove residence conditions received75
  • Applications turned down67
  • Revenue of programme businesses (distribution)64
  • Programme filings approved (other forms)56
  • Programme filings denied (other forms)56
  • and 50 more; see Explore below.
Residence·Open·since 2025

Gold Card

Sells the right to live in the country (a “golden visa”), sometimes leading to citizenship later.

Path to citizenship. Can lead to citizenship: it gives ordinary permanent residence, and citizenship can follow after five years. (from the research notes below)

Official name: Gold Card programme ('Trump Gold Card'), Executive Order 14351

Lowest price for one person: US$1 million

USD 1 million unrestricted gift by an individual (each family member needs their own gift per trumpcard.gov); USD 15,000 I-140G fee per person excluded.

Notes from the research

Established by Executive Order 14351 (19 Sep 2025), not by statute: an unrestricted gift to the Department of Commerce (USD 1 million for an individual, USD 2 million from a corporation for an employee) is treated as evidence for existing EB-1 (extraordinary ability) or EB-2 (exceptional ability / national-interest waiver) immigrant classifications, with expedited processing. Applicants register and pay on trumpcard.gov (Department of Commerce), then file Form I-140G online with USCIS (fee USD 15,000 per person); the gift is paid after vetting. Leads to ordinary permanent residence (not conditional), so naturalisation after five years under 8 U.S.C. 1427. The order asks agencies to consider extending it to EB-5. No official figures on applications, approvals or money received were found. The 'Trump Platinum Card' (USD 5 million) is only announced on trumpcard.gov ('Coming Soon'); no legal act creating it was found. Statutory basis and visa-number limits remain those of EB-1/EB-2.

Prices and rules

Ways in that apply today (minimum amounts)
Fees today

What is measured

No published numbers found for this programme. That is itself worth knowing: see the notes and the documents below.

Gaps

What we know is missing

  • Gold Card: we found no published numbers at all, only rules and events.
  • Investor visa (EB-5): no yearly figures at all for money raised.

A gap means no figure is in our data: either it was never published or we haven't found or read it yet. Charts leave gaps open rather than drawing across them.

Explore

All the numbers we have for United States

30,924 numbers about United States's residence programmes. Pick a programme and what you want to see. Each dot is one number from one document; click anything to open its source.

Timeline

What happened, and when

Sources

The 99 documents behind this page

The stories behind the numbers

Who buys passports and golden visas, what they cost, and what happens when governments change the rules. Written from this data, in the newsletter.

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