US President Donald Trump’s “Gold Card” visa scheme is struggling to attract the wealthy foreigners it was designed to attract, with several immigration lawyers warning clients to stay away from the program over legal and financial concerns.According to a report in the Washington Post, lawyers advising ultra-wealthy clients say that ongoing litigation, tax complications and uncertainty around Visa’s legal status make the plan too risky to recommend. The visa was unveiled by Trump in June last year and formally launched through an executive order in September. It costs between $1 million and $2 million, with a $15,000 application fee. The administration has also promoted it as a $5 million pathway to wealthy investors.Even lawyers with close ties to the Trump family have distanced themselves from the event. Michael Wildes, the immigration attorney who represents first lady Melania Trump, her parents, Kushner family members and multiple Miss Universe winners, said he will refuse to take clients seeking gold cards.“It would be unethical for me to retain them,” Wildes told the Washington Post.The biggest issue for many lawyers is that the visa has not been approved by Congress, meaning a future administration could potentially revoke it. Rosanna Berardi, another immigration lawyer, said the uncertainty alone was enough to discourage clients from applying.“As immigration counsel, our obligation is always to protect the interests of our clients,” he told the Post.He added: “And we believe it is not appropriate to recommend a program with such significant legal uncertainty and financial risk, even when clients express a desire to proceed.”A handful of applicants are still undergoing testing. Immigration lawyer Mona Shah said she currently has two clients from Nigeria and Pakistan, who are in different stages of the application process. However, he said he warned them both that the program could amount to “false advertising” and would ultimately go nowhere. According to Shah, his clients were prepared to lose money if the scheme failed.US government data show that interest in the program is well below the administration’s ambitious projections. A petition filed last week in a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) court revealed that only 338 people had submitted requests for the Trump Gold Card, while just 165 applicants had paid the $15,000 processing fee.This contrasts with earlier claims by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who had previously predicted that the program would generate more than $100 billion by issuing 80,000 gold cards. Lutnick also claimed in March that 1,000 Gold Cards had already been issued before the program officially launched.The DHS filing further states that Gold Card applicants will not be ranked ahead of EB-1 or EB-2 visa applicants, categories reserved for highly skilled and exceptional workers.