The US State Department is advancing plans to impose bonds as high as $15,000 for some tourism and business visas, according to a draft of a temporary final rule.
The bonds would be issued to visitors from countries with significant overstay rates under a 12-month pilot program.
This renews an initiative in November 2020 during President Donald Trump’s first administration.
The rule would have required a $15,000 bond for tourist and business travelers from two dozen countries with 10% or higher overstay rates, mostly in Africa, if Donald Trump had won the presidential bid over Joe Biden in that year.
The new federal registry notice of the visa bond pilot program is scheduled to be published on August 5, 2025.
“The Pilot Program will enable the Department to assess the operational feasibility of posting, processing, and discharging visa bonds, in coordination with the Department of the Treasury (‘Treasury’) and the Department of Homeland Security (‘DHS’), and to inform any future decision concerning the possible use of visa bonds to ensure nonimmigrants using these visa categories comply with the terms and conditions of their visas and timely depart the United States,” it stated.
It said it would announce the countries in question at the “Travel.State.Gov” website no fewer than 15 days before the pilot program takes effect.
It also said the list might change, again with 15 days notice.
Tourists and business travelers would receive their bonds back when they depart the US, are naturalised as a citizen or die, according to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement regulations.
SP/AE
How Virtual Reality is enhancing business and customer experience
