by Robert S. Teachout, SHRM-SCP, Brightmine Legal Editor
A new Gold Card program announced by President Trump last week will speed up the process of gaining an exceptional ability (EB-1A) and national interest (EB-2) visa for the employees and corporations that can pay the hefty fee required. The Gold Card would grant an unlimited right of residence in the US and provide a pathway to US citizenship.
Saying he wanted to prioritize the admission to the US of foreign employees who will “affirmatively benefit the Nation, including successful entrepreneurs, investors, and businessmen and women,” Trump issued an executive order directing the Secretary of Commerce to create a visa program to facilitate entry of foreign employees who pay a fee of $1 million by an individual or $2 million by a corporation.
The paid fee is to be considered evidence of eligibility of exceptional business ability and national benefit for purposes of processing an EB-1A visa or of eligibility for a national-interest waiver under the EB-2 visa program.
The White House also issued a fact sheet providing more details about the Gold Card program. The executive order comes at the same time as Trump announced an increased fee of $100,000 for an H-1B temporary work visa and the Department of Homeland Security issued a proposed rule change in how H-1B visa applications would be weighted.
Additional changes to employment-related visa programs may be coming. A planned Platinum Card, with an expected fee of $5 million, would allow a foreign employee to stay in the US for up to 270 days per year without having to pay US taxes on income they earned outside the United States.
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About the author
Robert S. Teachout, SHRM-SCP
Legal Editor, Brightmine
Robert Teachout has more than 30 years’ experience in legal publishing covering employment laws on the state and federal level. At Brightmine, he covers labor relations, performance appraisals and promotions, succession and workforce planning, HR professional development and employment contracts. He often writes on the intersection of compliance with HR strategy and practice.
Before joining Brightmine, Robert was a senior HR editor at Thompson Information Services, covering FMLA, ADA, EEO issues and federal and state leave laws. Prior to that he was the primary editor of Bloomberg BNA’s State Labor Laws binders and was the principal writer and editor of the State Wage Assignment and Garnishment Handbook. Robert also served as a union unit leader and shop steward in the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild of the Communications Workers of America. Actively involved in the HR profession, Robert is a member of SHRM at both the national and local levels, and gives back to the profession by serving as the communications vice president on the board of his local chapter.
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