Donoso & Partners, LLC

07/14/2025

Starting the week on a high note with kind words from a grateful client.

06/30/2025

TRUMP GOLD CARD GOES LIVE…SORT OF

Washington D.C., June 11, 2025: Trumpcard.gov – the Trump Gold Card registration website – is now live. Interested individuals and businesses can register for future information about the $5,000,000 Gold Card program for U.S. permanent residency.

Registration at trumpcard.gov is quite simple. The site prompts one to enter their name, email address, region in which they currently reside, and whether they are interested as an individual or as a business.

The registration triggers a verification email and code. The registration email describes the Gold Card as a “Path to American Citizenship.”

Perhaps troublingly, the registration email states that registrants can “Join the official Trump Card waitlist.” Having represented thousands of HNW families, I would venture to say that most of them would be wary of a residency program offering a “waitlist” after having paid $5,000,000 for a visa.

So, as it currently stands: Things are now getting real...People can register their interest in receiving information about the Gold Card with the U.S. Government. Details are thin. Branding is on-point for Trump (gold over a black background). Timelines are unknown. No mention of any immigration legislation. (Could this turn out to be a parole program for wealthy families….?). As always, stay tuned for more …

06/03/2025

Our latest blog - stay informed!

Washington D.C., June 2, 2025: A news report published in the Washington Examiner newspaper today created massive ripples in the EB-5 program investor

05/28/2025

May 27, 2025, Washington D.C.: U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, confidently announced a summer 2025 launch for the Trump Gold Card visa program.

In an open forum interview with Axios News held May 21, 2025, Secretary Lutnick gave new and important updates to the Gold Card initiative.

Read more:

May 27, 2025, Washington D.C.: U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, confidently announced a summer 2025 launch for the Trump Gold Card visa

05/27/2025

Check out our latest blog-
May 27, 2025, Washington, D.C.: Secretary of State Marco Rubio has directed consulate officials to stop scheduling appointments for F-1, M-1 and J-1 student visa applicants, as the Department of State prepares to implement a more comprehensive
social media vetting process. Read more.

May 27, 2025, Washington, D.C.: Secretary of State Marco Rubio has directed consulate officials to stop scheduling appointments for F-1, M-1 and J-1

05/05/2025

Understanding The New Alien Registration Requirement

President Trump’s government re-activated a program that requires certain foreign persons in the United States to register with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This memo outlines key requirements under the registration rule.

Read more:

President Trump’s government re-activated a program that requires certain foreign persons in the United States to register with the Department of Homeland

05/05/2025

IIUSA filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security in March 2024 (INVEST IN THE USA v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY et al (DC Federal District Court, 1:24-cv-00918)) alleging that USCIS’s October 2023 sustainment policy was void because it constituted rule-making, and was not adopted pursuant to controlling rule-making procedures (namely, according to the Administrative Procedures Act).

Read more:

Washington, D.C., April 4, 2025: What happens when your successful litigation strategy meets an immovable object? Invest in the USA (“IIUSA”), the EB-5

04/15/2025

Son tiempos confusos con la actual administración del gobierno norteamericano, NO HAY pretexto desde la comodidad de tu computadora o teléfono RESULVE tus dudas por uno de los mejores abogados en Migración Legal en EEUU, Ignacio Donoso Donoso & Partners, LLC 28 de abril a las 10:00 am https://bit.ly/42HSsZj

04/15/2025

Trumps Floats Plan for Farm and Hotel Workers

Washington D.C., April 10, 2025: President Donald Trump suggested at a Cabinet meeting today that undocumented people working on farms and in hotels would be allowed to leave the country and return as legal workers if their employers vouched for them

"So a farmer will come in with a letter concerning certain people, saying they’re great, they’re working hard. We’re going to slow it down a little bit for them, and then we’re going to ultimately bring them back. They’ll go out. They’re going to come back as legal workers."

Features of this nascent policy proposal include (1) industry-specific to farming and hotels; (2) undocumented immigrants will likely need employer sponsorship; (3) potential immigrants must depart the U.S. and then be re-admitted with work authorization; (4) potentially a waiting period abroad.

Open questions abound:
- it will it extend to other industries that rely on undocumented immigrants, such as construction?
- how long will be the waiting period abroad?
- once these folks return to the U.S., will they be granted the ability to stay long-term or will they be required to depart the U.S. on a seasonal basis (much like the H2B/H2A programs)?

This initiative is destined to become a political tug-of-war between immigration hard-liners, industry lobby groups and immigration advocates.

The President may, by executive action, grant these workers parole into the U.S. (similar to parole initiatives granted to Ukrainian, Venezuelan and Haitian nationals in the recent past). A legislative fix is also possible, but would require legislation passed through the House and Senate, then signed by the President.

As with many initiatives from the White House, the tug-of-war will play out in public, with an uncertain outcome until the very end.

04/14/2025

IIUSA Sustainment Lawsuit Bogs Down in Settlement Negotiations

Washington, D.C., April 4, 2025: What happens when your successful litigation strategy meets an immovable object? Invest in the USA (“IIUSA”), the EB-5 regional center industry advocacy group, is in the process of finding out precisely that.

IIUSA filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security in March 2024 (INVEST IN THE USA v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY et al (DC Federal District Court, 1:24-cv-00918)) alleging that USCIS’s October 2023 sustainment policy was void because it constituted rule-making, and was not adopted pursuant to controlling rule-making procedures (namely, according to the Administrative Procedures Act).

The plaintiff IIUSA received a promising boost in January 2025, when the presiding Judge gave instructions for the parties to reach settlement, because DHS’s position was fundamentally weak (…it is).

That recommendation turned into two settlement conferences among the parties over the last two months. Unsurprisingly, the DHS and USCIS are intransigent. Admittedly, no government agency likes to be told their wrong. That, however, is not the issue.

The real problem is that IIUSA’s lawsuit seeks not only to void the October 2023 sustainment policy, but also cause USCIS to either (a) acknowledge a new policy formalizing a sustainment period of more than the 2 years set by the Reform and Integrity Act, or (b) for USCIS to engage in valid rule-making in conformity with the Administrative Procedures Act in the immediate near term.

The DHS, for its part, is running out the clock. The status reports from the settlement talks show that USCIS is grinding out the negotiations – without committing to do anything. Why? Well, the reasons are two-fold. First, if IIUSA succeeds in voiding the October 2023 sustainment guidance, then USCIS reverts back to the literal text of the Reform and Integrity Act – which unequivocally states that the minimum sustainment period is 2 years (not more). Second, the EB-5 Regional Center Program is scheduled to end on September 30, 2027, and only visa petitions filed before September 30, 2026 will be grandfathered to proceed after its expiry. By delaying rule-making, USCIS is making it impossible for IIUSA to obtain any leverage to push USCIS to change the sustainment period.

IIUSA’s strategy is encountering the challenge that its ultimate goal – to cause USCIS to adopt a longer sustainment period – may be beyond the scope of its lawsuit. Thus, even though IIUSA’s lawsuit is proving successful at voiding the October 2023 sustainment policy, it is not moving the immovable object that is USCIS rule-making.

04/14/2025

Can the Trump Gold Card Turn Into Reality?

Washington, D.C., April 4, 2025: The Gold Card initiative is at its most nascent stage – despite promises for more details to be announced in weeks.

The immediate challenge is envisioning a Gold Card program that can actually achieve its key features: deficit reduction and job creation.

Deficit Reduction

Deficit reduction through Gold Card suffers from one key flaw: the U.S. deficit is approximately 1.8 Trillion of dollars. Investors under the Gold Card program could raise – maybe – a few Billion dollars. For example, if we take all of the EB-5 visa quota (10,000 visas per year) and multiply that times $5 million per investor, that results in $ 50,000,000,000 per year. That sounds like a lot money … but not if the deficit is in the Trillions of Dollars. This is a negligible drop in the bucket in relation to the deficit.

Plus: where is the U.S. government going to find 10,000 people to pay $5,000,000 each for permanent residency? That is a separate (though very germane) question.

Job Creation

Job creation through the Gold Card program is an equally important flaw. Job creation was essential to the legislative negotiations to the EB-5 Program, and has remained a central requirement of the EB-5 Program for the last 30 years. The Gold Card program, however, actually offers no direct path towards job-creation. It appears to be a straight payment to the U.S. Treasury. For that reason, I suspect that it may be difficult to convince U.S. Senators to scrap the EB-5 Program – which is successfully driving investment and job creation in rural states – for a Gold Card program that offers no job-creation element.

A Modest Proposal

To solve these problems with Gold Card proposal, I think it is important to acknowledge that the idea of reducing the deficit through the Gold Card program is not a promising approach.

Here are 2 ideas for possible solutions:

1. Retiree Visa. The U.S. does not have a retiree visa. The Gold Card program could become the perfect retiree visa for wealthy individuals. They could comply with the investment threshold of $5 million by purchasing a combination of real estate that is under construction (indirectly contributing to job creation through construction), and by making investments in U.S.-based venture capital funds that invest in new technology companies or new production companies.

2. Infrastructure Visa. Another solution that would have an impact on job-creation would be to channel Gold Card investors into government-approved federal, state and local infrastructure projects. Roads, bridges, tunnels, water systems – you name it. Gold Card investments could make a material and positive impact in reducing the costs of infrastructure improvements, and directly help create jobs in the U.S.

Hopefully, the Gold Card initiative will pivot from being a news item to becoming a helpful tool in the U.S. visa system.

04/14/2025

Gold Card versus EB-5

Washington, D.C., April 4, 2025: My friend Peter Mustafa, from Residency First, asked me to write a short blog note – almost like a public service announcement.

So, here goes:

THERE IS NO GOLD CARD PROGRAM AT PRESENT.

Regardless of Secretary Lutnick’s recent statement that he “sold” 1,000 Gold Card visas in one day… (Seriously…he really said that, on March 20, 2025, in front of an audience on a podcast).

It’s not true.

I do not know why Secretary Lutnick would make that statement. Nevertheless, neither the Secretary of Commerce nor the President has sole authority to create a new residency visa to the U.S. It requires legislation, passed by both Houses of Congress, and signed by the President into law, and then DHS and USCIS has to issue forms, set fees and create a processing for actually granting visa status.

If the Secretary’s statements were true, there would be all kinds of legal problems for everyone involved.

Comparing EB5 versus the Gold Card initiative is like comparing a real car to the idea of a car that will be available next year. One is real; one is not – at least, not yet.

The Gold Card may happen. It may not. It may replace EB-5. It may not.

We just don’t know at present. Stay tuned to this channel!

So, for investors considering the EB-5 program, I will relay my usual advice: take advantage of the door while it is still open.

And, for investors considering the Gold Card program, I am going to give some cheeky but honest advice: y’all can afford to both, so just give me a call and we’ll get you started! 😆

Hopefully, the Gold Card initiative will pivot from being news item to becoming a helpful tool in the U.S. visa system.