Washington, Sept. 20 -- The Trump administration has launched a premium immigration programme targeting wealthy individuals worldwide, offering US permanent residency through expensive "Gold Cards" that could generate billions in revenue for the American Treasury.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced the initiative on Friday, describing it as a fundamental shift in how America approaches legal immigration by prioritising wealthy applicants who can make substantial financial contributions to the country.

Under the Gold Card programme, individual applicants will pay USD 1 million (approximately Rs 8.5 crore) for permanent residency, while corporations sponsoring employees will pay USD 2 million per person. The programme replaces ex...