Visa Applicants Need To Pay Bond Of Up To $15,000 To Enter US
Donald Trump administration is set to launch a new pilot program that would require certain applicants for US business and tourist visas to post a refundable bond of up to $15,000. The measure, announced by the State Department this week, is intended to serve as a financial guarantee to discourage visitors from overstaying their visas or seeking asylum.
The new rule, expected to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, outlines a 12-month pilot program that could come into effect as early as August 20. According to the notice, consular officers will have the discretion to require applicants to pay a bond, which would typically be set at $10,000 for an adult and $5,000 for a child. This bond would be collected by the US Treasury Department and would be fully refundable if the traveler departs the US within the permitted visa period.
The program will primarily target applicants from countries with high rates of overstaying business (B-1) or tourist (B-2) visas, or those with internal document security deemed to be weak. While an official list of affected countries has not yet been released, it is expected to be announced soon. In addition to the bond, the new rule will also require affected travelers to enter the US within 30 days of their visa being issued, a move aimed at further strengthening compliance.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that the pilot program is designed to protect the US government from financial costs incurred when visitors violate the terms of their visas. The Department of Homeland Security has also voiced its support for the move.
This is not the first time such a measure has been proposed. The Trump administration floated a similar six-month pilot program in 2020, but it was never implemented after the Biden administration took office. The new regulation is part of a broader push by the current administration to tighten visa and immigration procedures, which includes a travel ban announced in June that restricts entry for citizens from 19 countries. Critics of the new bond requirement argue that it could make obtaining a US visa prohibitively expensive for many potential visitors.
