The Gold Card for high net worth Latin Americans is being promoted as a new fast track to residence in United States for those able to contribute 1,000,000 dollars (or more) to the federal government. For many readers in Latin America —business families, company owners, senior executives, diversified investors— the question seems obvious: if I already manage significant figures in my businesses, does this option make sense for me? In reality, the answer does not depend on whether the net worth is high enough, but on what that decision means for the overall structure of the family, the companies and the legacy they want to protect.

Official information outlines a very clear scheme: the individual applicant pays a 15,000-dollar fee to start the process, undergoes an enhanced background check and, if successful, makes a 1,000,000-dollar “gift” to the state. In exchange, they obtain permanent residence under an EB-1 or EB-2 classification, with a path to citizenship. For companies, the corporate version involves a 2,000,000-dollar gift per employee, with the possibility of transferring that benefit to another worker in the future, subject to a 1% annual maintenance fee and a 5% commission on each transfer. All this is happening while programs such as family reunification parole are being terminated and barriers for other immigrant categories are being raised, which makes the Gold Card for high net worth Latin Americans both attractive and politically sensitive.

Gold Card for high net worth Latin Americans: the real starting point for a Latin American wealth structure

For a high net worth Latin American household, the first question is not whether they “can afford” the Gold Card for high net worth Latin Americans, but where that million comes from and how the transaction looks on paper. Selling an asset, extracting cash flow from a company, exiting a strategic project or concentrating liquidity in a single move has consequences that go far beyond the immigration form. The traceability of the funds —which asset was sold, which taxes were paid, how the source was documented— is not only a compliance requirement before authorities in United States, but also before banks, regulators and tax authorities in the country of origin. In a global environment where capital flows are increasingly monitored, the 1,000,000-dollar “gift” must, above all, be defensible and transparent.

From there, tax residence comes into play. Obtaining permanent residence in United States often means that the individual and their immediate family enter the country’s tax radar, with potential consequences for worldwide income, inheritances and gifts. For families with operating companies in several countries, real estate across the region and structures such as holdings or trusts, that change of residence is not a symbolic step: it can alter the effective tax burden, trigger new reporting obligations and make it necessary to redesign existing vehicles to avoid double taxation or succession conflicts. Before treating the Gold Card for high net worth Latin Americans as a migration solution, many families need clear modelling of their tax scenarios for the next 5, 10 or 20 years.

There is also the corporate and governance angle. Latin American family businesses are often closely tied to one or two key figures: the founder who signs contracts, the partner who maintains banking relationships, the executive who concentrates operational knowledge. If that person reorganizes their life around United States, the company inevitably changes. The Gold Card does not require investing directly in the company, but it does force questions such as: who makes decisions if the main shareholder spends more time abroad, what happens with the signature on critical documents, how powers of attorney are reorganized and what happens in the event of an unexpected situation (health issues, death, family conflict) when residence, assets and companies no longer sit under a single jurisdiction.

Seven quiet questions before moving 1,000,000 dollars

Behind every discussion about the Gold Card for high net worth Latin Americans lies a set of questions that rarely appear in headlines but, in practice, determine whether the decision was smart or just expensive.

The first has to do with regulatory stability. The Gold Card is a new program, created by executive order and already under scrutiny from media, organizations and experts. Analysts have warned that it could face lawsuits or policy changes if a future administration decides to modify or limit the scheme. That level of uncertainty is particularly sensitive for families planning on a time horizon of several decades, not one or two years.

The second question is which alternatives are being discarded almost without analysis. Many high net worth profiles may be strong candidates for a traditional EB-1 or EB-2 based on academic, scientific, business or talent records; others could explore combinations of E-2, L-1 and employment-based routes that, if properly planned, lead to residence with a much lower financial cost and a more organic link to real economic activity. Without a serious evaluation of those paths, the Gold Card for high net worth Latin Americans runs the risk of becoming a “fast” solution, but not necessarily an “optimal” one.

The third question is how this decision will look from the outside. At a time when the government itself is tightening immigration policy for large groups of people, opting for a residence route associated with a million-dollar payment can have reputational implications: in local public opinion, in relationships with partners or even in proceedings where the origin and management of wealth are under scrutiny. For certain regulated sectors or companies that depend on public contracts, concessions or international financing, the way the decision is explained can become almost as important as the decision itself.

The fourth question is who is coordinating the whole board. An immigration adviser looking only at the Gold Card, a tax adviser looking only at next year’s return, and a notary focused solely on a local will can, unintentionally, create a puzzle of pieces that do not fit together. In this context, what a Latin American wealth structure needs is an integrated view: how the immigration route, corporate structure, tax planning, asset-protection tools and family agreements all interact. Without that view, the Gold Card for high net worth Latin Americans can end up being a flashy move that does not align with the long-term strategy.

At LOIGICA®, we do not see the Gold Card as a stand-alone “product”, but as one element in a broader conversation about how, when and why a family or a business group wants to link its life, assets and companies to United States. In some cases, after reviewing the full map, the conclusion is that the Gold Card for high net worth Latin Americans can fit as one more tool. In others, it may be more sensible to strengthen routes based on productive investment, talent or employment, supported by wealth structures that do not depend on a politically sensitive program.