Offshore
US "Gold Card" Programme Highlights Fight For International HNW Money

The "Devil is in the detail" when it comes to the proposed "gold card" programme to attract wealthy foreigners to the US, but the fact that the scheme is being floated at all shows that the US administration knows there is a war being waged to seek capital.
When US President Donald Trump
suggested a “gold card” high net worth foreign visa
scheme earlier this year, it was cautiously welcomed by
wealth advisors. And one aspect that stands out is that even the
world’s largest economy is competing to attract “global
citizens.”
Media reports, citing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, said
70,000 people had already signed up. Lutnick has said the
potential market for the cards was 37 million. Selling another
200,000 cards would net $1 trillion for the Treasury and help pay
down the federal debt.
With jurisdictions such as the UK having mothballed their visa
programmes, or suspended and narrowed their scope (Spain,
Portugal), there are gaps. On the other hand, New Zealand
restarted its programme at the start of April this year.
Public coffers are under pressure – and under the shadow of the
One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) spending and tax package. The
US is keen to attract money.
The idea of a US “gold card” was “great news,” Armand Arton, CEO
of Arton Capital, a firm advising people on migration matters,
told this news service in a call. “It shows that even the
biggest economy is fighting for global citizens.”
Arton said he has been speaking to "two, three senators in the
last two, three months" about the programme.
There is uncertainty on how the Trump proposal will work. For
instance, Arton noted, would the full weight of the US IRS tax
code apply to people after, say, five years, in which case it
might not be so appealing. “Eventually, you will be on the hook,”
he said. (In contrast to almost all nations, the US taxes
citizens on a worldwide, not residency-based, basis.)
Arton acknowledged, however, that the idea of the card being
proposed by the world’s largest economy, acts to “normalise” and
“legitimise” the golden visa sector – as it is often known.
(Ironically, there have been reports that more Americans than
before are considering leaving
the country due to political dscontent with current
events. (Expat US citizens face significant tax filing
obligations; there is also a cost for renouncing US
citizenship.)
On the move
The rollout of the gold card idea comes at a time when there is
considerable movement of HNW and ultra-HNW individuals between
jurisdictions, sometimes because of actual and threatened tax
hikes, and driven by political discontent and instability. For
example, figures from Henley &
Partners, another firm advising people on
relocating to jurisdictions, said the UK, for example, will
see more than two times more HNW emigrants than China, which is
expected to see 7,800 quit the Communist Party-run nation. A
record 142,000 millionaires across the world will move to another
country this year.
Arton is keen to stress that his work is far more than just
advising wealthy individuals and families on the case for moving
to a new country.
Based these days in Dubai, and living in several countries
beforehand, Arton established his own firm in 2006. He advises
jurisdictions in Europe on how to reform and adapt their systems.
Since 2012, he has also worked with Caribbean jurisdictions
alongside Bulgaria, Montenegro, Greece, and Portugal.
Arton has strong ties to Canada. He is a fellow of the Canadian
Securities Institute (FCSI®), and registered consultant lobbyist
with the government authorities in the country. Arton Capital has
also registered lobbying presences in Washington DC and the
European Union. He is a patron of the Sovereign Art Foundation
and is actively involved in various charity organisations around
the world helping children in need and supporting education. He
is also a member of the Clinton Global Initiative.
How it started
The idea of such citizenship/residency-by-investment schemes had
relatively humble origins.
Arton noted that in the early 1990s, Canada developed a way of
offering residency, attached to a social impact bond, which
started what is now called the “golden visa” system.
The market for residency/citizenship-by-investment is dominated
by a handful of firms, Arton said.
Demand for golden visa schemes doubles every five years, stemming
from events such as the pandemic, the Arab Spring, the war in
Ukraine, and worries about China and Taiwan, among others, he
said.
The digital revolution is coming for the visa sector – and not
before time, he said.
“I believe visa restrictions for paper visas will disappear
completely and everything will be an e-visa. That is the future
of mobility and digital registration,” Arton continued.
However, all this digital ferment and transfer of data to
government and non-government bodies, raises cybersecurity
concerns.
“[There are] Hundreds and thousands of intermediary companies and
we don’t know who they are,” Arton said.
Returning to the Trump “gold card” idea, Arton said the idea came
at a time when the European Union appears to be turning hostile
to the whole idea of linking citizenship/residency to investment.
As reported here, the
European Commission has slammed Malta’s scheme, arguing that
citizenship should not be a financial commodity – a message that
will have been heard by other states in the 27-nation bloc.
“In Canada and in Europe, lots of leaders on the centre/left
oppose them [these programmes],” he said.
But politics are not static. In future, countries such as the UK
and Germany, as they swing rightwards politically, may revive
these schemes, he said.
Arton added that clients should not, because of political
uncertainties, postpone decisions about these programmes, because
they might not be available in future. In general, instability
pushes people to act more quickly.
Besides any proposed "gold card" for the US, there is the
existing US EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. To be eligible, one
must put up at least $800,000; processing time can take anywhere
between 12 months to three years. A person is eligible for
citizenship after five years of legal residence. Canada operates
a startup visa programme, and there is also an investor
scheme in Quebec.