Jeffrey Chao, the Chinese co-founder and CEO of TP-Link Systems, has applied for permanent US residency through the Trump Gold Card program—and his company has made sure the federal agencies investigating it know about it. TP-Link confirmed to the government probes that Chao and his wife are pursuing US citizenship through the $1 million visa initiative, according to people familiar with the matter.The move is as much a legal strategy as it is a personal one. TP-Link is currently under investigation by the Commerce Department, the Justice Department, and the Federal Trade Commission, with additional lawsuits from the attorneys general of Texas and Florida. The concerns boil down to one thing: that the Chinese government could compel TP-Link to assist in cyberattacks on American networks.
TP-Link has been distancing itself from China since 2024
Chao and his brother co-founded TP-Link in Shenzhen three decades ago. In 2024, they split the company—Chao took the US-headquartered TP-Link Systems in Irvine, California, while his brother retained the China operations. Chao had already bought a house in Irvine back in 2018 and said in an interview last year that he had filed for a green card in January 2025. The Gold Card application is the latest in a series of moves designed to show Washington that TP-Link’s American arm is genuinely independent from Beijing.The company’s spokesperson said that no government—including China’s—has access to or control over its product design or production, and that all security functions are handled in the US.
The Commerce department is both investigating TP-Link and processing gold card applications
The awkward irony here is hard to miss. The Commerce Department—which oversees the Gold Card program—is simultaneously the same agency weighing whether to issue an “initial determination” that TP-Link poses a national security threat. That determination would put the company one step closer to a potential ban on US operations. The department did not respond to requests for comment on Chao’s application.Getting approved won’t be straightforward either. The Gold Card website explicitly states that “national security and significant criminal risks” can be grounds for revoking a visa.The Trump administration had briefly shelved plans to ban TP-Link routers in February, reportedly to avoid friction ahead of a planned Trump-Xi meeting. Whether Chao’s citizenship push changes the calculus in any meaningful way remains to be seen.
