US President Donald Trump on Friday introduced the “Trump Gold Card” and “Platinum Card” schemes for applicants seeking US residency. The new visa programme, designed for the world’s wealthiest individuals, seeks to entice them to immigrate to the US by offering residency permits at a substantial cost.

The announcement coincided with Donald Trump’s declaration of a steep $100,000 application fee for the widely used H-1B visa program, a measure expected to impact Indians most severely.

“They’re going to spend a lot of money to come in,” Trump told reporters Friday in the Oval Office as he signed the order to create the gold and platinum card visa program.

“It’s going to raise billions of dollars, billions and billions of dollars, which is going to go to reduce taxes, pay off debt and for other good things,” he added.

Trump had first floated this idea in February, describing it as a way to attract investment, create jobs, and reduce the deficit.

What are Trump’s Gold and Platinum visas?

The Trump Gold Card is a visa based on an individual’s ability to substantially benefit the United States. Under the new scheme, applicants have to pay $1 million for US residency, subject to vetting and a non-refundable processing fees.

“Once an applicant’s processing fee is received, the process for visa adjudication will take place, assuming applicants submit additional documents in a timely manner,” the official website for the scheme said.

“If approved, an individual must make a gift of $1 million, which has been determined to provide sufficient evidence that the individual will substantially benefit the United States,” it added.

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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the vetting fee for the Gold Card is expected to be $15,000 and said that applicants would be subject to “a much more rigorous vetting than has ever been done before.”

The Gold Card would replace the existing EB-1 and EB-2 visas that allow foreign nationals with extraordinary or exceptional abilities to seek permanent residency, Lutnick added.

Trump’s Gold Card for Corporate

Similar to the Gold Card scheme, the Trump Corporate Gold Card, which is issued to a corporate sponsor for one or more of the sponsor’s employees.

Businesses that pay a $2 million fee per employee can receive US residency for an unspecified number of workers, according to the website.

“The advantage of the Trump Corporate Gold Card is that corporate sponsors may cease sponsoring one employee and use the gift contribution tied to the prior application as a basis for sponsoring a new employee without a new $2 million gift,” the website says.

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“The Trump Corporate Gold Card is subject to a small annual maintenance fee and a transfer fee,” it adds.

Trump’s Platinum Card

According to the site, a “Platinum Card” will soon be available for $5 million, and allow recipients to “spend up to 270 days in the United States without being subject to US taxes on non-US income.”

According to the Commerce Secretary, the platinum card program is dependent on congressional approval and “that will happen later this year.”