The new Trump Gold Card – how does it compare to the Bulgarian Golden Visa
The Trump Gold Card
On 19.09.2025, US President Trump signed an executive order formally creating the Gold Card visa-program. In a nutshell, the Gold Card provides US permanent resident status for eligible foreigners, who pay a processing fee and make an irrevocable gift of one million US Dollars to the US government. The processing fee is currently estimated to be in the range of $15000. Both the processing fee and the one million US Dollar gift are irrevocable, meaning they will be never returned to the applicant.
The Bulgarian Golden Visa
The Bulgarian Golden Visa program provides different investment options. For this article, in order to be comparing “apples to apples” with the Trump Gold Card, we will give as example the most frequently utilized option, namely the investment in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
The Trump Corporate Gold Card
There is another option available that allows US corporations to make a gift of two million US Dollars to the USA in order to obtain a Gold Card for one employee. The program enables the corporation to change the employee without making additional gift. Additionally, the corporation has to pay a “small annual maintenance fee and a transfer fee”. How much these fees will be is yet unknown.
What we can say now is that no matter how expensive the Trump Gold Card is, we are absolutely certain that the amount of applicants will be huge. Let’s see however how does the Trump Gold Card compares in real terms with the Bulgarian Golden Visa.
US permanent residency vs EU permanent residency (Trump Gold Card vs Bulgarian Golden Visa)
Below is an unbiased comparison between the Trump Gold Card and the Bulgarian Golden Visa. The comparison is between the personal (not corporate) Gold Card and the Bulgarian Golden Visa investment in ETFs. The comparison table below doesn’t take in consideration the application fee, which is currently estimated to be in the range of $15000 for the US Gold Card.
| Trump Gold Card | Bulgarian Golden Visa | |
|---|---|---|
| Rights in the issuing country | Live and work in the US | Live and work in Bulgaria |
| Rights in other countries | none | Visa-free travel to all Schengen member states (29 countries) |
| Required capital | $1’000’000 | $602’000 (the current equivalent of €512’000) |
| Irrevocable donation | $1’000’000 | none |
| Legal basis | President Donald Trump’s Executive Order | Bulgarian Foreigners Law |
| Automatic taxation after residence is granted | YES | NO |
| Taxation on worldwide income | YES | NO |
| Personal tax rate | 10% to 37% (progressive) | 10% (flat) |
| Timeline to full citizenship | 5 years | 5 years |
| Requirement to live in the country for the majority of the time to retain residency status | YES | NO |
For further assistance
It’s noteworthy that, following the latest U.S. presidential elections, many Americans are seeking a second home and a second citizenship. For them, the Bulgarian Golden Visa appears to be one of the best options worldwide.
We assist foreigners in obtaining both the Bulgarian Golden Visa and the Trump Gold Card (through the wealth services by VD&A). If you are interested in applying for either program, please contact our offices for guidance.
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