The "Devil is in the detail" when it comes to the proposed "gold card" program to attract wealthy foreigners to the US, but the fact that the scheme is being floated at all shows that the US administration knows there is a war being waged to seek capital.

When US President Donald Trump suggested a “gold card” high net worth foreign visa program earlier this year, it was cautiously welcomed by wealth advisors. And one aspect that stands out is that even the world’s largest economy is competing to attract “global citizens.”

Media reports, citing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, said 70,000 people had already signed up. Lutnick has said the potential market for the cards was 37 million. Selling another 200,000 cards would net $1 trillion for the Treasury and help pay down the federal debt.

With jurisdictions such as the UK having mothballed their visa programs, or suspended and narrowed their scope (Spain, Portugal), there are gaps. On the other hand, New Zealand restarted its program at the start of April this year.  

Public coffers are under pressure – and under the shadow of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) spending and tax package. The US is keen to attract money. 

The idea of a US “gold card” was “great news,” Armand Arton, CEO of Arton Capital, a firm advising people on migration matters, told Family Wealth Report in a call. “It shows that even the biggest economy is fighting for global citizens.”

Arton said he has been speaking to "two, three senators in the last two, three months" about the program.

There is uncertainty on how the Trump proposal will work. For instance, Arton noted, would the full weight of the US IRS tax code apply to people after, say, five years, in which case it might not be so appealing. “Eventually, you will be on the hook,” he said. (In contrast to almost all nations, the US taxes citizens on a worldwide, not residency-based, basis.)

Arton acknowledged, however, that the idea of the card being proposed by the world’s largest economy, acts to “normalize” and “legitimize” the golden visa sector – as it is often known. (Ironically, there have been reports that more Americans than before are considering leaving the country due to political discontent with current events. (Expat US citizens face significant tax filing obligations; there is also a cost for renouncing US citizenship.)

On the move
The rollout of the gold card idea comes at a time when there is considerable movement of HNW and ultra-HNW individuals between jurisdictions, sometimes because of actual and threatened tax hikes, and driven by political discontent and instability. For example, figures from Henley & Partners, another firm advising people on relocating to jurisdictions, said the UK, for example, will see more than two times more HNW emigrants than China, which is expected to see 7,800 quit the Communist Party-run nation. A record 142,000 millionaires across the world will move to another country this year.

Arton is keen to stress that his work is far more than just advising wealthy individuals and families on the case for moving to a new country.

Based these days in Dubai, and living in several countries beforehand, Arton established his own firm in 2006. He advises jurisdictions in Europe on how to reform and adapt their systems. Since 2012, he has also worked with Caribbean jurisdictions alongside Bulgaria, Montenegro, Greece, and Portugal. 

Arton has strong ties to Canada. He is a fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute (FCSI®), and registered consultant lobbyist with the government authorities in the country. Arton Capital has also registered lobbying presences in Washington DC and the European Union. He is a patron of the Sovereign Art Foundation and is actively involved in various charity organizations around the world helping children in need and supporting education. He is also a member of the Clinton Global Initiative.

How it started
The idea of such citizenship/residency-by-investment schemes had relatively humble origins. 

Arton noted that in the early 1990s, Canada developed a way of offering residency, attached to a social impact bond, which started what is now called the “golden visa” system.

The market for residency/citizenship-by-investment is dominated by a handful of firms, Arton said.

Demand for golden visa schemes doubles every five years, stemming from events such as the pandemic, the Arab Spring, the war in Ukraine, and worries about China and Taiwan, among others, he said. 

The digital revolution is coming for the visa sector – and not before time, he said. 

“I believe visa restrictions for paper visas will disappear completely and everything will be an e-visa. That is the future of mobility and digital registration,” Arton continued. 

However, all this digital ferment and transfer of data to government and non-government bodies, raises cybersecurity concerns. 

“[There are] Hundreds and thousands of intermediary companies and we don’t know who they are,” Arton said. 

Returning to the Trump “gold card” idea, Arton said the idea came at a time when the European Union appears to be turning hostile to the whole idea of linking citizenship/residency to investment. As reported here, the European Commission has slammed Malta’s scheme, arguing that citizenship should not be a financial commodity – a message that will have been heard by other states in the 27-nation bloc.

“In Canada and in Europe, lots of leaders on the center/left oppose them [these programs],” he said. 

But politics are not static. In future, countries such as the UK and Germany, as they swing rightwards politically, may revive these programs, he said.  

Arton added that clients should not, because of political uncertainties, postpone decisions about these programs, because they might not be available in future. In general, instability pushes people to act more quickly.

Besides any proposed "gold card" for the US, there is the existing US EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. To be eligible, one must put up at least $800,000; processing time can take anywhere between 12 months to three years. A person is eligible for citizenship after five years of legal residence. Canada operates a startup visa program, and there is also an investor program in Quebec.