The US will require some visa applicants to pay bonds to discourage overstays. Photo / 123rf
The US will require some visa applicants to pay bonds to discourage overstays. Photo / 123rf
The US State Department says some visa applicants will soon be required to pay bonds of up to US$15,000 ($25,000) to discourage visa overstays as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on migration.
Starting later this month, the pilot programme will require applicants from certain countries to pay a sumof “no less than US$5000” as collateral for the issuance of their visa, with the funds returned if they comply with the terms of their stay or forfeited if they remain past the deadline.
“Consular officers may require covered non-immigrant visa applicants to post a bond of up to US$15,000 as a condition of visa issuance,” the agency said.
The 12-month programme would only affect foreign nationals from countries “identified by the department as having high visa overstay rates” based on a 2023 Department of Homeland Security report, the notice said. It did not specify countries that would be impacted by the programme.
The programme, which will begin August 20, will apply to B-1 or B-2 non-immigrant visas, and those asked to pay bonds will have to enter and depart from the United States from a list of pre-selected airports.
Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump and his administration have cracked down on migration to the United States.
The State Department justified the launch of the pilot programme by calling it “a key pillar of the Trump Administration’s foreign policy to protect the United States from the clear national security threat posed by visa overstays”.
