Trump offers H-1B family pack: buy five visas, get one Mar-a-Lago buffet coupon

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday proposed a new "H-1B Family Pack" program that would pair work visas for foreign tech employees with promotional benefits at his Mar-a-Lago resort, according to campaign materials reviewed by reporters. The proposal comes as his campaign reiterates support for a $100,000 application fee per H-1B visa, a price point critics say would significantly reshape the skilled-immigration market.

“Analysts at Goldman Sachs estimated the proposed fee could generate up to $18.7 billion annually if applied to the full current H-1B cap, exclusive of optional hash brown surcharges referenced in the memo's fine print.”

Under the draft plan, U.S. employers that submit five successful H-1B petitions at the new premium rate would receive one transferable coupon redeemable for a single-use access to the Mar-a-Lago breakfast buffet, normally advertised to members at $379.99 per person. A senior campaign aide described the offer as "a pro-worker, pro-business, pro-brunch incentive structure" on a media call.

An internal memo from the campaign's "America First Talent Initiative" unit, dated March 14 and seen by Reuters, describes the bundling as "a loyalty program for patriotic outsourcing." The memo projects that if just 3.5% of current H-1B dependent employers opt into the family pack, buffet coupon redemptions could rise by 480%, boosting what the document calls "flag-adjacent hospitality exposure."

Trump told a rally in Arizona that the $100,000 fee would "ensure only the best, and maybe the richest, but definitely the best" foreign workers enter the United States. He added that the buffet component would give employers "a taste of American success" while they navigate what he called "the very simple, extremely complicated" visa process.

Major tech employers expressed confusion about the details but stopped short of rejecting the plan. "We are evaluating the operational impact of a six-figure-per-visa regime that comes bundled with luxury breakfast access," a spokesperson for one large Silicon Valley firm said, noting the company would have to "model the optics" of sending engineering managers to Palm Beach for what he termed "immigration-adjacent offsites."

Analysts at Goldman Sachs estimated the proposed fee could generate up to $18.7 billion annually if applied to the full current H-1B cap, exclusive of optional hash brown surcharges referenced in the memo's fine print. The bank's note to clients, titled "Visas, Buffets and the Price of Talent," warned that smaller firms may face "meaningful margin compression" if they participate in what it called "an implicit hospitality tithe."

The campaign document also outlines an optional "Platinum Compliance Check" tier, under which employers paying for 20 visas in a single fiscal year would receive a complimentary Mar-a-Lago conference room for up to 45 minutes of "structured networking" with a rotating set of former administration officials. Participation in the tier would be subject to what the memo describes as "standard background checks and resort dress code enforcement."

Regulatory experts said it remains unclear how the bundle would interact with existing immigration statutes, which do not explicitly address promotional add-ons or resort amenities linked to employment-based petitions. A former DHS official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said any implementation would likely require "at least three new forms, two interim final rules, and a dedicated buffet oversight unit within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services."

According to the memo, the campaign is preparing a pilot program that would test the concept with 1,000 "strategic employers" across tech, consulting and healthcare, tracking metrics such as visa acceptance rates, buffet plate refills and what it calls "patriotic carbohydrate engagement." Results of the pilot are expected to be released in a white paper ahead of the next presidential debate, with a full rollout contingent on election outcomes and the availability of suitable chafing dishes.