When US President Donald Trump first proposed his “gold card” programme earlier this year, offering permanent residency to the super-rich, Beijing-based emigration consultant Jack Jing received unsolicited inquiries from seven high-net-worth families.
“After carefully weighing legal risks and potential visa backlogs, two of them have abandoned the gold card in favour of other US investment-immigration visas backed by congressional legislation,
while the remaining families have generally chosen to wait and see.”
“Clients worry whether this new programme could trigger legislative disputes, similar to the ‘reciprocal tariffs’ issue, ultimately requiring a Supreme Court ruling and significantly delaying green
card [permanent residency] processing,” Jing said.
In southern China, Bill Liu, co-founder of Guangzhou
Cheuk Yuet Overseas Consulting Service, said few of his clients and peers are planning to apply. “Without a clear two- to three-month path to permanent residency and congressional backing, even the wealthy find it hard to be swayed,” Liu said.
