Trump's $100,000 Green Card Bond Would Be Refundable, Following Blocked H-1B Fee and $1m 'Gold Card' Scheme

The Trump administration is considering a new financial requirement for some green card applicants, which would see them post a refundable bond of up to $100,000 before moving to the United States. The proposal, still under review at the State Department, would apply to certain immigrant visa applicants at US consulates abroad.

It is the latest in a series of high‑cost immigration fee measures introduced under the current administration, several of which have already been blocked by courts or have attracted limited numbers of paying applicants.

What The Bond Would Involve

Under the plan, applicants seeking permanent residency through consulates abroad could be required to post a bond, which sources described as likely to be around $100,000, although the final amount could vary by case. Family members already living in the US would be permitted to post the bond on an applicant's behalf.

Crucially, the bond would be refundable once the applicant becomes a US citizen, a process that typically takes several years.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott confirmed the department was exploring the idea, saying officials wanted immigrants to demonstrate they were '...financially self-sufficient'.

The scheme would launch as a pilot in a limited number of countries before any wider rollout. Officials have not yet disclosed which countries would be included.

A Pattern Of Contested Immigration Fees

The bond proposal would not be the administration's first attempt to attach a large fee to a legal immigration pathway. In September, Trump imposed a $100,000 fee on employers filing H‑1B visa petitions for skilled foreign workers, a policy intended to discourage companies from hiring overseas staff.

That fee was struck down in June by US District Judge Leo Sorokin, who ruled the administration had no authority to impose it without Congress's approval. Sorokin found that '...the $100,000 payment reveal[ed] that it is a tax...'.

The Department of Homeland Security called the ruling 'blatant judicial activism' and has said it will appeal.

Not The First Immigration Bond Scheme

The administration also launched the 'Trump Gold Card' in December, offering expedited US residency to foreign nationals who pay a $15,000 processing fee plus a $1 million 'contribution'. Trump described it at launch as 'basically... a Green Card, but much better'.

Uptake has been limited. A Department of Homeland Security court filing showed only 338 people had submitted requests months after launch, with just 165 paying the $15,000 processing fee, below the tens of thousands officials had predicted.

A smaller‑scale bond scheme is already in place for tourist and business visitors.

Since last August, applicants from a growing list of countries, now numbering roughly 50, have been asked to post refundable bonds of up to $15,000, forfeited if they overstay their visa.

If extended to green card applicants, a six‑figure bond would fall most heavily on families already facing the longest waits for permanent residency, including hundreds of thousands of Indian nationals in a long‑running employment‑based backlog.

For many, raising that sum years before any refund would arrive could turn an already lengthy process into a financial barrier that some families cannot clear.