A task force led by Elon Musk is developing a new U.S. immigration program that would offer special residency visas — dubbed Gold Cards by former President Donald Trump — for $5 million each, The New York Times reports. Engineers from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have been collaborating with staff from the State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to design a streamlined application system and website for the proposed visa program. Three sources familiar with the initiative and documents reviewed by The Times confirmed these details.
DOGE engineers leading Gold Card Visa team
Leading the gold card initiative on Musk’s team are Marko Elez and Edward Coristine, who have reportedly been coordinating with multiple federal agencies to integrate existing vetting processes into the new system. Billionaire Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia has also reportedly joined the project, initially signing on to assist with digitizing federal retirement systems.
Elez faced backlash earlier this year after The Wall Street Journal linked him to a pseudonymous social media account that posted racist content and promoted eugenics-based immigration policy. He resigned in February but has since worked with several federal agencies, including the Department of Labor and Health and Human Services. Coristine, a 19-year-old who goes by the nickname “Big Balls” online, was previously dismissed from an internship at the data security firm Path in 2022 following an internal investigation into a data leak, according to a company statement.
What is ‘Gold Card’ Immigrant Visa project
The project is reportedly exploring ways to bypass the traditional, often years-long, visa process by expediting background checks and interviews, with the aim of granting residency within two weeks of application for qualified high-net-worth individuals.
This effort marks a shift in focus for Elon Musk’s task force, originally formed to cut government costs. The Gold Card project signals a new direction: generating federal revenue through immigration reform. Trump first introduced the Gold Cards concept in February, describing it as a pathway to permanent U.S. residency for “very high-level people.” He positioned it as a replacement for the existing EB-5 visa program, which grants green cards to foreign investors contributing between $800,000 and $1.05 million to U.S. businesses that create at least 10 jobs. The EB-5 program generated about $4 billion for the government in the past year.
Gold Card Visa is not American citizenship, it offer Permanent Residency
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick previously stated on a podcast that 1,000 Gold Cards had already been sold. “So if you have a gold card — which used to be a green card — you’re a permanent resident of America,” Lutnick said. “They pay $5 million, and they have the right to be an American and the right to be in America as long as they’re good people and they’re vetted and they can’t break the law.”
According to Lutnick, Musk is currently building the software platform and the program will launch “within a week and a half.” Trump, while traveling aboard Air Force One earlier this month, displayed a mock-up of the laminated Gold Cards, featuring his image alongside the Statue of Liberty and a bald eagle, stating it would debut “in less than two weeks.”
