Foreign visitors from countries with high overstay rates to pay bonds up to $15,000 for entry into the U.S.
The U.S. State Department is set to launch a bond scheme that will require foreign visitors to pay huge fees.
In yet another sharp escalation of U.S. policy when it comes to foreigners, the State Department is launching a one-year “visa bond pilot program” that will require certain business and tourist (B‑1/B‑2) applicants to post bonds of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000.
The new program applies only to citizens of countries identified by the State Department as having high overstay rates, weak vetting processes, or offering citizenship by investment without residency requirements.
As of the publication date, only the African nations of Malawi and Zambia have been officially designated for the scheme. Both countries do not make the top 20 when it comes to nominal GDP, with the former also one of the top 10 poorest countries on the entire continent.
This immigrant family from Florida supported Trump and believed him when he said he’d focus on deporting criminals. Now the father has been arrested by ICE and is awaiting deportation. The family is devastated.
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Other countries, all either African or Asian, such as Chad, Eritrea, Haiti, Myanmar, Togo, Djibouti, Burundi, and Yemen, have been rumoured as likely candidates for the visa requirements. Trump will frame this as a bureaucratic effort to reduce visa overstays, but the implications are clear: none of the countries currently under consideration are in Europe or majority-white regions.
Reports say that consular officers would set the bond amount, which would default to at least $10,000 per adult and $5,000 per child unless waived. Bonds are payable via Pay.gov using DHS Form I‑352 and administered by the Treasury Department in coordination with DHS. Even having the funds to pay for such a bond, approval of a visa to enter the States, the Land of the Free, is not guaranteed.
‘The U.S. will have one of, if not the highest, visitor visa fees in the world’
Bonds will be held by the Treasury and refunded only if travelers leave the U.S. within the terms of their visa. Any overstay or violation results in automatic forfeiture. As well as this, travellers will also be restricted to entering at certain airports—like JFK or Dulles—and may only be admitted for 30 days, even if their visa would normally allow more.
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Erik Hansen, senior vice president of government relations for the U.S. Travel Association, said in a statement that “if this fee is implemented, the U.S. will have one of, if not the highest, visitor visa fees in the world. If we are to maintain a competitive position in the global travel market, it’s critical that U.S. visa policy reflects both national security priorities and the significant economic value of international visitation.”
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