US Gold Card 2026: Status, Cost, and the Legal Challenge Explained

The US Gold Card is operational but legally untested. Created by executive order in September 2025 and opened in December 2025, it is not a new visa: it routes applicants into the existing EB-1 and EB-2 categories using a USD 1 million payment as supporting evidence. A federal lawsuit challenging it is pending as of July 2026.

What Is the US Gold Card, and Is It Actually Available?

It is available, in the sense that applications are being accepted and one petition has been approved. It is not settled law. The programme rests on an executive order rather than an act of Congress, and a federal court is currently considering whether that was permissible.

The Gold Card began as a February 2025 announcement pitched as a USD 5 million replacement for the EB-5 investor visa. That version never happened. Over the following months the price fell and the structure changed entirely. Executive Order 14351 was signed on 19 September 2025, directing Commerce, State, and Homeland Security to build the programme, and applications opened on 10 December 2025 through a dedicated government portal. USCIS published a new form, I-140G, to process petitions.

The most important thing to understand is what the Gold Card is not. Congress holds the authority to create immigration categories, and the executive branch did not change that. Instead the programme uses an existing federal gift-acceptance statute to treat a large payment as evidence supporting an application under two categories Congress already created: the EB-1, for individuals of extraordinary ability, outstanding researchers, and multinational executives, and the EB-2 National Interest Waiver, for advanced-degree professionals whose work serves the national interest.

The practical consequence is that a Gold Card applicant is still applying for an EB-1 or EB-2 green card, and must still meet the legal standard for that category. Payment does not replace the substantive test. An officer cannot approve a petition on money alone, so the applicant still needs the documentation of achievement any ordinary petition would require.

How Much Does the US Gold Card Cost?

An individual pays a USD 15,000 non-refundable processing fee plus a USD 1 million payment to the government, characterised as a gift rather than an investment. Each family member requires a separate fee and a separate payment, so a family of four faces roughly USD 4 million plus USD 60,000 in fees.

The distinction from EB-5 matters here. Under EB-5 the capital is placed at risk in a commercial enterprise and can potentially be returned. The Gold Card payment is a one-way transfer. If the programme is struck down, the money is gone and the immigration benefit may go with it.

Why Is the Gold Card Being Challenged in Court?

Because only Congress can create a visa category, and the Gold Card was created by executive order. The central legal question is whether the executive branch can let a payment substitute for the statutory criteria that Congress attached to the EB-1 and EB-2 categories.

On 3 February 2026 the American Association of University Professors, joined by a group of immigrant professionals, filed suit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. The case is American Association of University Professors v. Department of Homeland Security, No. 1:26-cv-00300-RJL, assigned to Judge Richard J. Leon. The United Auto Workers joined through an amended complaint in May 2026.

The plaintiffs argue the programme violates the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, including its notice-and-comment requirements, and that it converts a limited pool of merit-based green cards into commodities sold to the highest bidder. Because EB-1 and EB-2 numbers are capped, each Gold Card approval arguably displaces a petition from someone who built a case on publications, patents, or research rather than a payment. That displacement argument is central to the dispute.

The government's motion to dismiss, filed 28 April 2026, focused on whether the plaintiffs have standing rather than defending the programme's legality on the merits. As of July 2026 no court has ruled on the merits and no injunction has stopped the programme operating. Briefing is expected to continue into late 2026.

A separate transparency lawsuit was filed in April 2026 by watchdog groups seeking release of records about the programme, after the administration declined to produce them.

What Happens to Applicants If the Programme Is Struck Down?

Nobody knows, and that is the point. Immigration attorneys have warned that early participants face genuine legal exposure: applicants who have already paid could face complex consequences including possible revocation of status if a court finds the framework exceeded executive authority.

The asymmetry is stark. The payment is non-refundable and made to the government before the legal question is resolved. There is no escrow, no contingency, and no published mechanism for returning funds if the programme falls. An applicant is therefore underwriting the litigation risk personally.

There is a second layer of uncertainty that has nothing to do with the courts. Because the programme rests on an executive order rather than a statute, it can also be modified or rescinded by executive action at any time, without any court involvement at all. A future administration could end it with a signature.

None of this means the programme will fall. It means the risk is real, unpriced, and borne entirely by the applicant. That is a materially different proposition from an established statutory programme such as EB-5, or from a European residence route such as the Portugal Golden Visa, where the legal basis is not in dispute.

Does the Gold Card Deliver Speed or Tax Advantages?

Neither, despite both being central to the original marketing. The Department of Homeland Security acknowledged in court that Gold Card petitions are not necessarily adjudicated faster than ordinary ones, and holders are taxed on worldwide income exactly like any other permanent resident.

On speed, the reason is structural. Because the programme draws from the existing EB-1 and EB-2 pools rather than creating new visa numbers, it is bound by the annual limits and per-country caps Congress set in statute. The executive order acknowledges this. An applicant born in India or China remains subject to the same backlog after paying USD 1 million as before, and can still wait years.

On tax, the confusion traces to a second tier informally called the Platinum Card, described at roughly USD 5 million, under which holders could reportedly spend up to around 270 days per year in the United States without US tax on foreign income. That tier is a proposal only. It was not part of the executive order, no application exists, and officials have indicated it would likely require congressional action. As of July 2026 no implementing legislation has passed. Gold Card holders get no special tax status whatsoever.

What the Gold Card does deliver, on approval, is lawful permanent residence: the same green card any approved EB-1 or EB-2 applicant receives, with the right to live and work anywhere in the United States and a path to naturalisation generally after five years.

How Many People Have Actually Used It?

Very few. A sworn government declaration filed with the April 2026 motion to dismiss reported 338 people had submitted requests to begin an application, 165 had paid the processing fee, and 59 had filed a petition. The Commerce Secretary testified before Congress in April 2026 that one applicant had been approved.

Set against the projections, the gap is substantial. In December 2025 the Commerce Secretary projected the programme would issue 80,000 Gold Cards and raise more than USD 100 billion. The figures above are what the government itself reported to a federal court four months later.

Promotional statements from officials have at times conflicted with these disclosures, which is worth bearing in mind when assessing any claim about the programme's traction. Sworn filings are more reliable than press remarks. Immigration professionals reported in April 2026 that there were no publicly verified holders who had completed the full process.

The low uptake is itself informative. The programme launched into a market where, by Henley and Partners estimates, roughly 165,000 millionaires are expected to relocate internationally in 2026. Demand for investment migration is not the constraint. The constraint is that this particular product asks for a non-refundable seven-figure payment in exchange for a benefit that is legally contested and offers no processing advantage.

Victoria Cold, European Attorney at Golden Harbors, notes: "We have not advised a single client to file under this programme, and that is not a comment on the United States as a destination. It is that a client would be paying a non-refundable seven figures into a scheme whose legal foundation is currently before a federal judge. When the same green card is reachable through a settled statutory category, the risk is difficult to justify."

What Are the Alternatives for US Residence?

Several, and most cost a fraction of the Gold Card while resting on settled law. The EB-5 investor programme remains fully in force, and the merit-based employment categories reach the same permanent residence without any payment to the government.

EB-5 is the closest comparison for an investor. It requires an at-risk investment in a new commercial enterprise creating at least ten jobs, at USD 800,000 in a targeted employment area or USD 1,050,000 otherwise, with an inflation adjustment scheduled for 1 January 2027. Crucially, the capital is invested rather than gifted and can potentially be returned, and EB-5 carries its own dedicated visa numbers including set-asides for rural and high-unemployment projects. Because Congress created EB-5, only Congress can end it.

• EB-1A, EB-1B, EB-1C: direct green card categories for extraordinary ability, outstanding researchers, and multinational executives, often current for applicants from most countries.
• EB-2 National Interest Waiver: lets qualified advanced-degree professionals self-petition without employer sponsorship or labour certification.
• O-1A and O-1B: for extraordinary ability in sciences, business, athletics, education, or the arts. No annual cap and no lottery, and a common stepping stone to EB-1A.
• H-1B, L-1, TN, E-2, E-3: temporary work routes covering specialty occupations, intracompany transfers, and treaty nationals.

The point worth absorbing is that a Gold Card applicant must satisfy the EB-1 or EB-2 standard anyway. Anyone who genuinely meets that standard can petition directly, without the payment. Anyone who does not meet it will not be rescued by the payment, because the officer still has to find the category satisfied.

How Golden Harbors Helps

Golden Harbors advisors track this programme rather than promote it. Where a client raises the Gold Card, our first question is whether they would qualify for EB-1 or EB-2 on the merits, because if the answer is yes the payment buys nothing that a direct petition would not, and if the answer is no the payment does not fix it.

For clients whose objective is a second residence or citizenship rather than the United States specifically, we compare the full range: European residence routes such as the Greece Golden Visa, the low-presence UAE Golden Visa, and Caribbean citizenship by investment where a passport is the actual goal. We will revisit this guidance if the litigation resolves or Congress legislates.

Frequently Asked Questions About the US Gold Card

Is the US Gold Card a Real Visa You Can Apply For?

Applications are open and one petition has been approved, but it is not a standalone visa. It routes applicants into the existing EB-1 or EB-2 National Interest Waiver categories and treats a large payment as supporting evidence. It was created by executive order rather than by Congress and is the subject of a federal lawsuit challenging its legality.

How Much Does the US Gold Card Cost in 2026?

An individual pays a USD 15,000 non-refundable processing fee plus a USD 1 million payment to the government, with separate fees and payments for each family member. The employer-sponsored version is USD 15,000 plus USD 2 million per employee, with a 1% annual fee and a 5% transfer fee. None of it is recoverable.

Was the Gold Card Not Supposed to Cost USD 5 Million?

That was the February 2025 announcement, which described a USD 5 million programme replacing the EB-5 visa. That version was never implemented. The price fell to USD 1 million and the structure changed entirely before Executive Order 14351 was signed in September 2025. Guidance still quoting USD 5 million is describing the original proposal.

Is the Gold Card Faster Than a Regular Green Card?

Not necessarily. The Department of Homeland Security acknowledged in court that Gold Card petitions are not necessarily adjudicated faster than ordinary ones. Because applicants draw from the same capped EB-1 and EB-2 pools, per-country limits still apply and applicants from backlogged countries such as India and China can still wait years.

Do Gold Card Holders Pay US Tax on Foreign Income?

Yes. Gold Card holders are lawful permanent residents and are taxed on worldwide income like any other green card holder. The foreign-income exemption that received attention was attached to the separate Platinum Card proposal, which is not operational as of July 2026 and would likely require an act of Congress.

What Is the Lawsuit Against the Gold Card?

American Association of University Professors v. Department of Homeland Security, No. 1:26-cv-00300-RJL, filed 3 February 2026 in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs argue the programme exceeds executive authority and violates immigration and administrative law. The United Auto Workers joined in May 2026. No merits ruling has issued.

What Happens to My Money If the Programme Is Struck Down?

There is no published mechanism for returning funds. Payments are non-refundable and made to the government before the legal question is resolved. Immigration attorneys have warned that participants could face complex consequences including possible revocation of status if a court finds the framework exceeded executive authority.

Does the Gold Card Replace the EB-5 Visa?

No. EB-5 was created by Congress and remains fully in force, and only Congress can end it. EB-5 requires an at-risk investment of USD 800,000 or USD 1,050,000 creating ten jobs, and that capital can potentially be returned. One effect of the Gold Card rollout has been renewed investor interest in EB-5 precisely because it rests on statute.