00:00Hello there, my name is Pankaj.
00:07You are watching The Trump Card.
00:09Now Donald Trump has always been a businessman first and a politician later.
00:15His latest immigration plan, the Trump Gold Card Visa makes that clearer that even $5
00:23million in cash and you can skip the line straight to the United States residency.
00:30No need to create jobs, no need to contribute skills, just bring the money and America is
00:36yours.
00:37This proposal replaces the EB-5 visa which required a much lower investment of $800,000
00:45to $1.05 million plus the added responsibility of creating jobs.
00:50The gold card eliminates these conditions making it the fastest and the easiest path
00:56to a US green card if you can afford it.
00:59The impact?
01:00Well, the Indian professionals who have spent decades waiting for green cards under the
01:06current system will see their American dream slip even further out of reach.
01:11While tech workers, doctors and researchers continue to navigate endless backlogs, Trump
01:18has made it clear that citizenship is now a luxury item, one reserved for billionaires
01:24and oligarchs.
01:27Trump justifies this as a win for the US economy, arguing that wealthy immigrants will pay higher
01:33taxes and fuel investment.
01:36But is America's future really best shaped by the highest bidder rather than the most
01:43talented minds?
01:44With the 10 million gold card visas initially up for grabs, Trump isn't just rewriting
01:50immigration policy, he is auctioning off America's identity.
01:55The message is loud and clear.
01:58If you can't buy it, you can wait in the line.
02:02And to discuss this very delicate issue, we are joined by Bhavya Chaudhary Jha.
02:08She is an immigration law attorney all the way from Atlanta in the United States.
02:12Good morning Bhavya.
02:13Thank you so much for speaking to One India.
02:16Good morning, Pankajji.
02:17I hope you are well.
02:19I'm doing fine.
02:20Thank you, ma'am.
02:21First things first, Bhavya.
02:22It looks like this gold card rush would definitely pinch a lot for all those H-1B skilled workers
02:30queued up in the line waiting for their turn.
02:34How does this impact them?
02:38This gold card was just announced by President Trump last night, yesterday.
02:43We are still waiting for the requirements to be put forward.
02:51And it's said that this gold card would replace EB-5, which we handle routinely, have been
02:57doing it for 20-25 years now.
03:02If it were to be a reality, people who have otherwise applied in other categories of employment-based
03:09green cards such as EB-1, EB-2, EB-3 and so forth, which are skilled workers and specialty
03:15occupation workers, they are facing backlogs anyhow.
03:19So using a gold card which replaces EB-5 does not actually much impact these EB-2, EB-3
03:28categories.
03:29If it would replace EB-5, it would impact.
03:34So you mean to say that when it comes to a paid visa service, EB-5 obviously has many
03:44subsidiaries as well.
03:46Are there any other forms of making payments and getting the visa in the United States,
03:51if not of such a tune of 5 million?
03:56So currently, under the current laws, we have two such categories, or we could actually
04:02talk about several smaller ones as well.
04:05So one is the biggest one, EB-5, which is typically 1,050,000 or 800,000, depending
04:11upon where the business is located, rural or high unemployment.
04:16The second category is somewhat related.
04:19It's called immigrant and entrepreneur parole visa, which is where people are able to, it's
04:26like mostly for startups who also hold a stake in a company and have gotten an investment
04:33in the US.
04:34So that's another category.
04:35It doesn't result in green cards though.
04:37It gets a temporary parole status only, not a very widely used category.
04:42The third one is somewhat investment based, which is EB-1 for multinational managers and
04:48executives, where multinational companies, if they were to open a branch in the US or
04:54subsidiary, and then they were to invest money for the such opening of the subsidiary or
05:00branch and transfer an intra-company executive or manager.
05:04So they could supply for an EB-1 category based green cards.
05:09Right, absolutely.
05:10Considering that this gold card does become a reality in the days and months to come,
05:15how does this gold card visa compare to the EB-5 program in terms of processing time,
05:22legal requirements and long-term benefits?
05:27So once again, I will have to refer to what we do in EB-5 because gold card rules and
05:32requirements have not come out at all.
05:34They were just announced yesterday.
05:36So as far as EB-5 is concerned, the requirements are that you have to have invested at least
05:44$800,000 if the investment is made in a regional center or in a new business, which is located
05:50in a rural area or a high unemployment zone called the TEA, Targeted Employment Areas.
05:56So that's a requirement.
05:59And if you are investing in a direct business or even if it's a regional center, per investor,
06:05the number of jobs to be created are 10, 10 new positions to be created.
06:10But of course, the amount of investment depends upon where the business is located.
06:15And finally, the source of money has to be lawful, which it could come from within the
06:22U.S. as well.
06:23And the source of money could be capitalization from, you know, your personal savings, loans.
06:29Loans have many different qualifiers to them after litigation was litigation on it on matter
06:36of Zhang as well as give.
06:40So as far as in the processing times are, the good thing was there was a rule called
06:45RIA in 2022 introduced by the last administration, under which people could also apply for their
06:53green cards called Adjustment of Status if they were in the United States lawfully.
06:57There are many qualifiers for that.
07:00And if the priority dates were current, which mostly are.
07:04Now, the processing times have been two to three years in the last two years.
07:12Could have taken longer than that previously, but that's what the recent processing times
07:16have been.
07:18If we look at Gold Visa, if it were to replace EB-5, I see that it could be similar processing
07:25times or maybe they would take longer because it's a new program.
07:29We don't know yet.
07:31If there were lesser applicants, the processing times are faster usually.
07:37And also if the requirement, I think one of the requirements says that could potentially
07:42be that the money has to come from overseas.
07:45We have yet to see that.
07:47OK.
07:48All right.
07:49All right.
07:50Since you are an immigration law attorney, talking about those who can't really afford
07:57either $5 million or be it $1.08 or $800,000, what are the best legal pathways to permanent
08:07residency in the United States, if we can voice the opinion and concerns of many, several
08:13thousands of people there in the United States?
08:16If you're talking mostly about people from India and also from China, where we have the
08:21highest backlogs, we have a lot of highly specialized and skilled workers.
08:27Typically, we point them towards self-petition in the EB-1 and EB-2 categories, which are
08:34meant for aliens of extraordinary abilities or national interest waiver categories, where
08:40we are able to get a waiver or forgiveness for the labor application called PERMS.
08:46And these people are able to apply for themselves and meet the criteria.
08:52The bars are very high and not everyone qualifies for it.
08:55However, we have had many, many successful cases in the last several years, decades of
09:01it.
09:02Otherwise, the run of the mill cases are when employers sponsor people's employment-based
09:10green card applications, which is the PERMS to I-140s and eventually cards.
09:16That is in the EB-2 or EB-3 categories, which are aliens advanced degree holders or skilled
09:23workers.
09:24And those are really high backlogs if you don't have the large amount of money.
09:30The other category, which is also available for religious workers, is the special immigrant
09:35visa category, which is for religious workers.
09:38Other than that, we do have other categories which are lesser known.
09:42These are victims of crimes such as U-visas or T-visas, victims of trafficking, or VAVAs,
09:50Violence Against Women Act.
09:52So all these victims also have pathway to permanent residency, although we first have
09:59to obtain their T-visas or U-visa status first, which takes time, and they have their own
10:05requirements.
10:06Absolutely.
10:07Such a clarity of thought there.
10:09Thank you so much, Bhavya.
10:10One final question before I let you go.
10:11I can't help but ask this question.
10:13Donald Trump is shooting, you know, presidency, and he is dictating the terms, is signing
10:22new rules.
10:23What is the general perception, especially in the immigrant community there?
10:28How are they looking at it, these changes that are coming every now and then?
10:34Well, in the immigrant community, there are several class categories of people.
10:41Some are, you know, like we just discussed, people who are of specialized knowledge or
10:47people who have the money to invest.
10:52They are worried in their own sense, you know, would our categories be taken away?
10:57For example, if I was just announced it would be replaced by the gold visa, which we don't
11:02know what's going to happen.
11:05Uncertainty occurs there.
11:08People who are applicants for other categories of visas or were not very legal in the sense
11:14that they are on the cusp of or they have deferred action, it's a term of art.
11:19They are also uncertain about what will happen to their cases.
11:24So all in all, there is a little bit of an uncertainty.
11:27Right.
11:28We have to see what happens in the next few months.
11:32Right.
11:33Bhavya, thank you so much for bringing clarity, at least to this very complex issue, I would
11:38say.
11:39People in this part of the world actually woke up to the news of this gold card visa
11:45from Donald Trump, and that remains to be seen.
11:49Thank you so much, Bhavya, for speaking to us.
11:51Most welcome.
11:52Thank you for having me.
11:53So that was Bhavya Chaudhary Jha, Immigration Law Attorney, all the way from Atlanta in
11:58United States, talking about the new gold visa that Donald Trump has issued.
12:04Well, we'll be back with another episode of The Trump Card tomorrow.
12:10Stay tuned to OneIndia.
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