Updates of Trump Golden Card and EB5,H1B prediction
Trump Gold Card
The announcement regarding the Trump Gold Card did not address quotas or priority dates. The $1 million and $2 million fees seem to be merely expedited processing fees for super-rich applicants. Even if these applications are processed immediately, the shortage of green card quotas remains a bottleneck for applicants from countries like India and China.
The announcement pertains to EB1A and EB2. Given the frequent upgrading and downgrading between EB2 and EB3 visas, whatever applies to EB2 also applies to EB3 to some extent, so we won’t analyze EB3 separately. Since there is no change to the EB2 green card quota, there is no substantial impact on EB2 green cards, and therefore no impact on EB3 green cards.
Trump Platinum Card
The Platinum Card includes an innovative differentiating factor—global tax exemption. We commend the Trump administration for this differentiating factor for the EB5 green card, which will allow the Trump Platinum Card to complement the future EB5 green card program. However, this may require congressional action, as only Congress has the power to tax or not tax.
With this differentiating factor, the Trump administration seems to view the Platinum Card as a new path to a green card, rather than a replacement for the EB5 green card. The Trump administration has clearly acknowledged that only Congress has the authority to authorize green cards, and this cannot be done through executive action. This is progress compared to earlier statements from the administration that the Gold Card would replace the EB5 green card and that executive action was sufficient to issue such green cards. So far, EB5 advocates seem to have successfully communicated with the Trump administration to maintain the independence and integrity of the EB5 program.
The EB5 program has enjoyed strong bipartisan support due to its job creation benefits. Introducing a “Platinum Card” as a separate type of green card, with its unique global tax-free benefits, while maintaining the popular EB-5 program, could garner bipartisan support in Congress.
H1B
On September 23 (US time), the US Department of Homeland Security released a proposed rule for H-1B applications. The new rule, if implemented, will significantly alter the odds of selection for different salary levels through a weighted lottery: the probability of selection for Level IV applicants will rise to approximately 61.2%; while Level I will drop to approximately 15.3%; and Levels II and III will be approximately 30.6% and 45.9% respectively.
Joymay believes that the new H-1B policy, which adds a one-time fee of $100,000 for new H-1B applicants, will ultimately reduce the global competitiveness of US businesses and increase economic burdens. We suggest adjusting this to a fee of around $10,000, as an “integrity fee,” refundable upon completion or collected as a one-time payment. The real change with the H-1B policy is raising the application threshold, favoring high-paying, highly skilled foreign workers.
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