Honest question: let’s say that Congress suddenly realizes what their job entails and what powers belong to them.
The article mentions that 1,000 of these visas have been sold and up to 1,000,000 may be.
If Congress says “no, this isn’t authorized” and the Supreme Court finally cracks open the Constitution and agrees with them: what does a rollback plan look like?
Probably a lot like putting down a $2K deposit on a Cybertruck range extender. If there's one thing Elon should be competent at by now, it's processing refunds.
AFAIK a visa can be revoked for any reason. I’m also willing to wager that any costs would not be refunded because let’s be serious this is Trump we are talking about
That's normal. Pretty much no residency or citizenship by investment programs will refund the 'investment' unless it is denied during the initial application process.
People buying that stuff usually don't care and it doesn't seem to have much effect on the other programs, even ones that have cancelled even citizenships in the past (like Saint Lucia) without returning the 'investment.'
it's beyond just new a visa, it's also changing tax code.
> Lutnick told the hosts of the All In show, was to allow people to purchase the right to live in the United States and pay taxes only on their income earned in the country.
That's a huge tax policy change. Currently, my understanding is that as a citizen, you pay taxes on all income, regardless of where it comes from. You get credits for taxes paid to other governments, but if they charge less then the US would, you pay the difference.
Paying $5 million to get a visa and then paying taxes on whatever assets and income they bring with them seems like a great deal for the US because the foreign income never would have been taxed by the US anyway if they hadn't got the visa. Why get greedy and demand taxation on all their income when this could lose us a the opportunity for a very profitable deal?
Like it or not this is basically how the US is run these days. Congress has ceded its power to the executive branch. Almost everything now is done by bureaucratic degree and executive order.
If you're deferring to the favors of a figurehead rather than the law, you would be much better off in Dubai. Everyone knows the game there, it is pure dictatorship, but the taxes are extraordinarily low, banking and KYC/AML is laissez faire, and if you're going to depend on personal connections to a leader rather than immigration law then you may as well go all in and get the better end of the deal.
Australia effectively scrapped this sort of visa in 2024 because it wasn't bringing the expected benefits. The UK did a similar thing because of it being exploited by oligarchs. (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-68052626)
I think we are possibly looking for different benefits here. This time, it's just temporary cover for economic hardships. "The Trump cards will bring in so much money, later." Also, the point this time is to actually get the oligarchs into the hen house.
Sounds like the people who take advantage of this illegal "Presidential offer" will become guilty of (A) immigration fraud and (B) tax evasion.
The current administration--as a principal criminal--may refuse to prosecute... but the statute of limitations will extend past Trump's term, and tax fraud has no statute of limitations.
Readit News
The article mentions that 1,000 of these visas have been sold and up to 1,000,000 may be.
If Congress says “no, this isn’t authorized” and the Supreme Court finally cracks open the Constitution and agrees with them: what does a rollback plan look like?
People buying that stuff usually don't care and it doesn't seem to have much effect on the other programs, even ones that have cancelled even citizenships in the past (like Saint Lucia) without returning the 'investment.'
This is the danger of most residency and citizenship by investment programs.
> Lutnick told the hosts of the All In show, was to allow people to purchase the right to live in the United States and pay taxes only on their income earned in the country.
That's a huge tax policy change. Currently, my understanding is that as a citizen, you pay taxes on all income, regardless of where it comes from. You get credits for taxes paid to other governments, but if they charge less then the US would, you pay the difference.
And for some, $5M is not a significant sum.
Deleted Comment
The current administration--as a principal criminal--may refuse to prosecute... but the statute of limitations will extend past Trump's term, and tax fraud has no statute of limitations.