US Gold Card in 2026: what it is, cost and benefits

A million-dollar gift to the government and one approved application in the first months. Family costs, what the card gives, the route for Russians and a comparison with other green cards.

In detail

For a $1 million gift to the government and a $15,000 fee, the United States promises a green card within weeks, with no business plan and no job creation. The programme has been open since December 2025, yet in April 2026 the US Secretary of Commerce told Congress that one application had been approved and hundreds were in the queue. The Gold Card turned out to be fast on paper and slow in real life, rather like the door-close button in a lift that everyone presses while the doors keep their own schedule.

Below is what the card is, what it costs for a family, what it gives, how a Russian citizen can get it and how it compares with the investor green card and the green card for talent.

What the US Gold Card is

The Trump Gold Card is not a new visa but a new way into two existing employment-based green card categories. The presidential executive order of 19 September 2025 told the Departments of Commerce, Homeland Security and State to accept a gift to the United States from foreign nationals and treat it as evidence that the applicant will substantially benefit the country.

An approved applicant receives US permanent residence in the first employment-based category, for people of extraordinary ability, or in the second, for professionals of exceptional ability. The Department of Homeland Security decides which. The result is an ordinary green card, and after 5 years the holder can apply for US citizenship. All US programmes are summarised in USA: all programmes.

Applications have been accepted on the official programme website since December 2025. US Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a dedicated petition form, and in March 2026 proposed expanding it with more questions about money and, above all, about corporate sponsors.

How much the US Gold Card costs

The minimum cheque is $1,015,000 per person: a $1 million gift and a $15,000 processing fee. The fee is paid on application and is not refunded. The gift is transferred only after the security vetting is complete.

The corporate card is tied to the company's money, not to a person. The company can stop sponsoring one employee and move the gift to another without a new $2 million, but pays a 5% transfer fee and a 1% annual maintenance fee.

A family pays for each member. A spouse and each unmarried child under 21 means another $1 million and $15,000, plus State Department visa fees and a medical exam. A family of three starts from $3.1 million. We will calculate the total online for a specific family.

The Platinum Card is the five-million US golden visa people search for. According to the official programme website, it will allow living in the US for up to 270 days a year without US tax on non-US income. In 2026 it does not exist yet: only a waitlist is open, and the $5 million price is not officially fixed.

What the US Gold Card gives

The Gold Card gives exactly what any green card gives, with exactly the same obligations. The only difference is how it is obtained.

• Live and work in any state. No tie to an employer, a business or a project.
• Family. A spouse and unmarried children under 21 get green cards if they are included in the first application and a gift and fee are paid for each.
• Citizenship. After 5 years of permanent residence the holder can apply for naturalisation, as with any other green card. What that path costs is covered in how much US citizenship costs.
• Study and business. Children study under local rules, and the holder opens companies and accounts as a permanent resident.

What the Gold Card does not give. It brings no tax relief: from day one the holder is a US tax resident. It does not allow living abroad for years: an absence of more than a year without a re-entry permit can cost the status. And it can be revoked over national security or serious criminal risks, as the programme rules state plainly.

How to get the Trump Gold Card: step by step

Officially the whole path takes weeks. The real pace depends on the security vetting, the visa queue for the country of birth and the consular interview.

1. Registration and fee. An application on the official programme website and a $15,000 payment by bank card or international wire. The fee is non-refundable.
2. Petition. USCIS sends an email, the applicant creates an online account and uploads the petition with documents: passport, biography, source of funds, family.
3. Vetting. The Department of Homeland Security checks the applicant and each family member against security and criminal databases.
4. Gift. After successful vetting an email with payment details arrives, and the $1 million is sent by wire from the applicant's bank.
5. Petition approval. The petition is approved in the first or second employment-based category.
6. Immigrant visa. If the applicant is abroad, the case goes to a consulate: visa fee, medical exam and interview. Residents of Russia attend it at the US Embassy in Warsaw.
7. Entry and card. After entering on the immigrant visa, the green card arrives by post.

Preparing the source-of-funds documents is the longest and most important stage. The checks are the same as for any green card; the extra step is proving where the million came from and showing its banking trail.

Can a Russian citizen get the US Gold Card

Yes. Russia is not on the lists of countries whose nationals are barred from entering the US under the June and December 2025 proclamations. The programme rules exclude no one by nationality: the applicant must be eligible for a green card, admissible, and a visa must be available.

From 21 January 2026 the State Department paused immigrant visa issuance to nationals of 75 countries, including Russia. A federal court struck the pause down, and according to the State Department it has not been in effect since 21 August 2026. Russian cases are again processed at the embassy in Warsaw. Other visa rule changes are collected in new US visa rules from September 2026.

The queue depends on the category. Under the October 2026 Visa Bulletin, the first category is current for Russians, while in the second category visas go to applicants with a priority date before 1 January 2025, a wait of about 21 months. The Department of Homeland Security decides which category applies.

The main barrier is money. A $1 million transfer from a sanctioned Russian bank will not go through, and the US bank and USCIS will check the whole chain, from the sale of a business or flat to the account the gift leaves from. The money is best held in advance in a third-country bank with a clear history.

Which documents the Gold Card requires

The list resembles the file for any employment-based green card, but money takes centre stage. USCIS examines not a business plan but the applicant's biography and the path of the million.

• Passports of the applicant, spouse and children, marriage and birth certificates translated into English.
• Biography: education, employment, businesses, recent addresses, trips to the US and past visas.
• Source of funds: contracts for the sale of a business, a stake or property, dividends, salary, inheritance, several years of tax returns.
• Banking trail: statements from the source of the money to the account the gift will leave from, including every intermediate transfer.
• Police certificates from every country where the applicant lived for more than a year after age 16; in Russia it is issued by the Interior Ministry.
• For the corporate card: documents of the sponsoring company, its owners, financial statements and the employee's role.

A gap in one link of the money chain stalls the case for a long time. That is why the file is assembled before registration and paying the fee, not after a request for evidence.

Who the Gold Card suits and who it does not

The Gold Card solves one problem: a green card without a business, job creation or proof of talent. The price of that speed and simplicity is a million that will not come back.

• It suits the owner of substantial wealth for whom $1 million per person is a small share, with a transparent money history, ready for US taxes and wanting to live in the US without being tied to a project or employer.
• It suits a company that needs to bring key employees to the US one after another: the corporate card can be moved from one person to the next.
• It does not suit a family for whom $1 million per person is a noticeable part of its capital: the investor green card at $800,000 covers everyone and returns the money.
• It does not suit someone who wants to live in the US half the year without tax on foreign income: that is the Platinum Card promise, and the Platinum Card does not exist yet.
• It does not suit someone whose money sits in sanctioned banks or has no documentary trail.

Gold Card, investment or talent: which to choose

The Gold Card is the most expensive route to a green card and the simplest in terms of requirements. The investor green card is cheaper and returns the money, while the green card for talent costs almost nothing but demands evidence.

The investor green card covers the whole family with one investment: a spouse and children under 21 come with the investor. For a family of three the Gold Card costs almost 4 times more. On the other hand, investor money is at risk in the project, and the jobs must be kept for 2 years.

Regional center petitions filed before 30 September 2026 are protected by law even if the programme is not extended after 30 September 2027. Details are in the investor green card deadline of 30 September 2026. With research papers, patents or high-profile projects, the talent route is worth checking first: it can cost thousands rather than a million. An interim option for such applicants is the work visa for people of extraordinary ability.

If the goal is not the US specifically but a reliable second status for money, compare the card with European programmes: what still works there is covered in golden visas in Europe in 2026.

Taxes with the Gold Card

The programme rules are explicit: a Gold Card holder pays US tax, including on income earned outside the US. The million buys no tax relief; only the Platinum Card promises that, and it does not exist yet.

• Federal tax. From 10% to 37% on worldwide income, plus state tax from 0% in Florida and Texas to 13.3% in California.
• Capital gains. For assets held over a year, 0%, 15% or 20%, plus 3.8% net investment income tax at higher incomes.
• Foreign account and asset reports. If foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point in the year, and if foreign assets reach $50,000 at year end for a single filer.
• Estate and gifts. From 2026 the exemption is $15 million per person.
• Giving up the status. After 8 of 15 years with a green card, giving it up can trigger the exit tax: assets are treated as sold and the gain is taxed.

Since August 2023 Russia has suspended the main articles of its double tax treaty with the US, so income from Russia is taxed in both countries under their own rules. Assets and deals are better restructured before entry, not after, including a home purchase: how that works for a foreigner is covered in buying an apartment in the USA. Rates and deductions are on the page taxes in the USA.

What changed in 2025-2026

The $5 million Platinum Card has not launched in that time. Congress has passed no separate Gold Card law: the programme rests on the executive order and the existing employment-based green card categories.

Gold Card risks and pitfalls

• The money is gone for good. It is a gift, not an investment: unlike the investor programme, the million will not come back after 5 years or on the sale of a business.
• The fee is not refunded. $15,000 per family member is lost whatever the outcome, including a refusal after vetting.
• The visa queue still applies. The Gold Card speeds up the petition, not the Visa Bulletin: in the second category Russians wait about 21 months.
• Source of funds. The million must be traced to a lawful source, and sanctioned banks or opaque transfers close the route before the gift is even made.
• Taxes. A green card makes the holder a US tax resident on worldwide income. Without a plan before entry, taxes in the first years can easily exceed the gift itself.
• Intermediaries. Applications are filed only on the official programme website, and the gift is sent only to details from a government email. Offers to buy a place in the queue or a discounted card are fraud.

The law does not forbid applying on your own. But mistakes cost more than the fee: a refusal over untraced funds, the wrong category, tax on a year of income before entry. Murblz support removes these risks: we compare the Gold Card with other routes to a green card, prepare the source-of-funds file and plan taxes before the move.

How we help

Murblz specialists start by choosing the route: for many families the investor green card or the green card for talent pays off better than a million-dollar gift. If the Gold Card is chosen, we prepare the petition and the money file, handle the consular stage in Warsaw and the tax planning before entry.

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