May 13, 2026
Even attorneys who have done work for the Trump family want nothing to do with the Gold Card visa.
Michael Wildes — the immigration attorney who has represented First Lady Melania Trump and her family, and secured visas for Miss Universe titleholders when President Trump ran the pageant — has been turning away potential Gold Card clients entirely.
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When would-be applicants call his firm, he tells them there's little he can do for them. "It would be unethical of me to retain them," Wildes told The Washington Post (1).
That's a striking verdict from someone with deep professional ties to the president, and he isn't alone. Seven immigration attorneys who work with wealthy foreign clients told the Post they've either directed clients away from the Gold Card or declined to help those who've already applied, recommending established legal alternatives instead.
What is the Gold Card, and what does it cost?
Trump launched the Gold Card in December 2025, positioning it as a fast-track path to U.S. permanent residency for ultra-wealthy foreigners (2).
Created by Executive Order 14351 in September 2025, the program allows individuals to pay a $1 million contribution to the Department of Commerce, plus a non-refundable $15,000 processing fee, in exchange for expedited consideration for lawful permanent resident status (3).
Corporations can sponsor an employee for $2 million, and family members each require their own $1 million contribution and $15,000 processing fee.
The program bypasses the typical requirements of employment-based green cards by treating the financial contribution as a substitute for merit criteria. In practice, the Economic Policy Institute notes, this means routing Gold Card applicants through existing EB-1 and EB-2 visa categories, slots that Congress specifically set aside for people with "extraordinary" ability whose entry will "substantially benefit" the country (4).
Trump called it "the green card on steroids" (5), NBC News reports.
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The legal problem: no congressional foundation
The core issue attorneys have flagged is that new immigrant visa categories can't legally be created without Congress (6). The Gold Card was created by executive order.
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In February, the American Association of University Professors filed a federal lawsuit, arguing the program violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Immigration and Nationality Act, and was implemented without statutory authority (7).
Immigration attorney Ron Klasko, who has taken one Gold Card case for a Ukrainian businessman and hired separate legal counsel to advise him on the ethical implications, has built a comparison chart for clients to weigh their options (8).
The conclusion: Gold Card recipients can lose their status with a single executive order, while EB-5 recipients can only lose theirs if Congress acts with legislation.
"Typically, they say 'Thank you, we'll think about this and we'll let you know,'" Klasko said of his clients, according to the Post (9), "and typically they get back to me and say 'We decided to go EB-5.'"
What the numbers actually show
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed one person had been approved for the Gold Card as of late April.
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But a court filing in the program's ongoing lawsuit told a broader story: of the 338 people who submitted Gold Card requests, only 165 paid the non-refundable $15,000 processing fee, and just 59 moved on to fill out the actual DHS paperwork, the Post reports (10).
The filing also disclosed that Gold Card applicants won't necessarily receive priority over those applying for EB-1 or EB-2 visas through traditional means.
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The alternative: why the EB-5 still wins
The EB-5 visa (11), created by Congress in 1990, requires a minimum investment of $800,000 in a targeted employment area — or $1.05 million in standard areas — in a job-creating enterprise with at least 10 full-time U.S. positions (12).
The Gold Card, by contrast, requires $1 million per person, can be eliminated by executive order and carries no job creation requirement. It also currently faces active federal litigation (13).
The professional consensus forming around a program Trump has billed as revolutionary suggests the lawyers who know immigration best aren't buying it. Attorney Rosanna Berardi, who has fielded Gold Card inquiries but declined to take those cases, summed it up with the Post (14).
"As immigration counsel, our obligation is always to protect our clients' interests, and we do not believe it is appropriate to recommend a program with such significant legal uncertainty and financial risk, even when clients express a desire to proceed."
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
The Washington Post (1),(8),(9),(10),(14); CNN (2); Manifest Law (3); Economic Policy Institute (4),(6); NBC News (5); EB5 Insights (7),(13); U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (11); Congress.gov (12).
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With a writing and editing career spanning over 15 years, Emma creates and refines content across a broad spectrum of industries, including personal finance, lifestyle, travel, health & wellness, real estate, beauty & fitness and B2B/SaaS/tech.
