All that gold card appeal's yet to glitter

These are early days. But Trump's 'gold card' visa programme launched earlier this month has had a lukewarm response, so far. As an idea, it's swell: keep your tired, your poor and your huddled masses, give me those with capacity. The trouble is, even HNIs putting up non-refundable $1 mn as 'Club America membership' fee (read: citizenship) - plus $15,000 processing fee per family member - would like a bit more certainty. With Congress yet to approve the first-class ticketing system and federal court challenges expected, non-US HNIs wishing 'to be American' as one of their identities are understandably cagey.

The preferred route remains the EB-5 - Employment-Based, Fifth Preference Immigrant Investor - programme, which offers investors (and their families) a path to conditional permanent residency ('green card') for investing a minimum amount - $8-10.5 lakh into a US commercial enterprise that creates or preserves at least 10 US jobs. The gold card is more directly transactional and, paradoxically, less certain not just for the applicant but also for the US. It's also not clear if the 'entry fee' will get applicants to the front of a considerably long queue.

EB visas across 5 categories are capped annually by law at around 1.4 lakh annually, with EB-5 visas numbering about 10,000, and individual countries capped at 7% of the total. Limited availability means countries like India and China have long waiting lines. The ability to shell out $1 mn as 'gift' to Uncle Sam only earns one a place in the line. The 'gold card' is yet another demonstration of Trump's nifty brand-building prowess. Meanwhile, how hospitable the US will get for the world's rich - depending on which part of the world they are from - will also determine the gold card's glitter.