A ‘Trump Card Visa’ Is Already Showing Up in Immigration Forms
Donald Trump has proposed launching a “gold card” program offering US residency for $5 million. Elon Musk’s DOGE has begun rolling out the technology to enable it.
ELON MUSK’S SO-CALLED Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has started rolling out digital infrastructure for a new golden visa immigration program, according to sources familiar with the matter, public records, and tests conducted by WIRED. The White House has yet to formally announce the initiative, but some US permanent residents and foreign visitors are already being asked if they have applied for a “Trump Card Visa.”
President Donald Trump first floated the idea of creating a $5 million golden visa in February, describing it as a way for wealthy individuals to buy residency in the United States and a pathway to becoming US citizens. How this would work is unclear: Federal law dictates how many permanent residency cards can be issued each year and who can get them, and experts say Congress would need to pass new legislation to raise the cap or change eligibility rules.
DOGE’s involvement in the visa project shows how quickly Musk and his team have expanded their purview. Trump’s initial executive order creating DOGE tasked the group with boosting government productivity by “modernizing federal technology and software.” Less than four months later, DOGE appears to be playing a central role in shaping the American immigration system.
Representatives from DOGE have spent the past several weeks coordinating on the golden visa program with officials from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the State Department, and other agencies, according to sources with knowledge of the meetings. On Musk’s side, the project is being overseen by two high-profile DOGE associates, Marko Elez and Edward Coristine.
One focus area for Musk’s team has been figuring out how to plug current US government systems for verifying travelers and processing immigration applications into what may eventually become a stand-alone website designed specifically for the Trump Card Visa. In late March, DOGE registered the domain trumpcard.gov, according to public records published by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
A reference to the Trump Card Visa has also been added in the live application form for Global Entry, a program run by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that allows preapproved US citizens, green card holders, and travelers from certain countries to enter the US through a fast lane, saving them time at the airport. People who apply for Global Entry with a foreign passport are currently given the option to select if they have “submitted an application for a Trump Card Visa
