Only one of the 338 recorded requests for the Trump administration’s Gold Card has been approved so far, highlighting a slow start for the US$1 million pathway to American lawful permanent residency. At the same time, the newly released USA Spotlight Report 2026 shows that demand from Americans for established Caribbean Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programmes reached record levels during the same period.
While the Gold Card offers a high-value route to US permanent residency, the USA Spotlight Report 2026 suggests that many globally minded families are placing greater emphasis on established citizenship programmes that offer long-term certainty, family coverage and the security of a second nationality.
Gold Card sees limited early uptake
The Gold Card was established through an executive order in September 2025 and opened for applications in December. Applicants are required to pay a non-refundable US$15,000 Department of Homeland Security processing fee and, after completing the required vetting, make a US$1 million contribution to the US government. A corporate-sponsored option requires a US$2 million contribution per employee.
Testimony from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in April 2026 indicated that just one applicant had been approved. A Department of Homeland Security filing showed that 338 requests had been submitted, with 165 applicants having paid the US$15,000 processing fee.
The figures stand in sharp contrast to the expectations surrounding the programme at launch. The USA Spotlight Report 2026 notes that the administration had projected tens of thousands of Gold Cards and more than US$100 billion in revenue. Shortly after the programme was launched, officials also claimed that more than US$1 billion in cards had been sold within days.
Wealth migration is about more than price
The early performance of the Gold Card highlights an important point in the investment-migration market which is a high price does not automatically create high demand.
The Gold Card places a US$1 million contribution at the centre of its route to permanent residency. Yet its initial application figures suggest that wealthy individuals are weighing factors beyond the size of the financial commitment.
At the same time, interest in Caribbean citizenship has continued to increase despite programmes across the region raising investment thresholds and introducing stricter due-diligence measures, including mandatory biometric enrolment.
According to the USA Spotlight Report 2026, factors such as programme longevity, legal certainty, rigorous due diligence and the ability to include qualifying family members are increasingly important to globally minded investors.
This creates a clear distinction between paying for a residency pathway and investing in long-term citizenship value.
As the report puts it, “Price was never the product; longevity, legal certainty, due diligence and provision for the whole family were, and remain, what globally minded families actually buy.”
For wealthy families, the priority may therefore be less about finding an immediate exit and more about creating options for the future, including an established second citizenship that can benefit both current and future generations.
CS Global Partners CEO Micha Rose Emmett also highlighted the trend, noting that wealthy Americans are becoming a growing share of applications worldwide and are contributing to record demand for established Caribbean CBI programmes.
Caribbean CBI demand moves in the opposite direction
The USA Spotlight Report 2026 found that US nationals accounted for nearly one-third of citizenship applications processed globally during the first quarter of 2026.
The distinction between the two pathways is significant. Caribbean CBI programmes provide citizenship, while the Gold Card is designed as a route to lawful permanent residency in the United States.
Caribbean programmes can also provide citizenship for qualifying family members and generally do not require applicants to relocate immediately to the country to obtain citizenship.
This growing demand has emerged even as Caribbean CBI programmes have become more stringent. Recent reforms across the region have introduced measures including mandatory interviews, biometric requirements, enhanced due diligence and higher minimum investment thresholds.
Together, these developments suggest that wealthy Americans are not simply looking for the cheapest or fastest immigration option. Increasingly, they appear to be looking for certainty, flexibility and long-term optionality.
The early Gold Card figures and rising American interest in Caribbean citizenship therefore point to a wider shift in investment migration: a second citizenship is increasingly being viewed not as an escape plan, but as a strategic Plan B for families planning well beyond the present.