The funds will be returned if the applicant complies with all visa terms. If the applicant remains in the United States past the deadline, the funds will be forfeited.
The US State Department said Monday some visa applicants will soon be required to pay bonds of up to $15,000 to discourage visa overstays as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on migration.
Beginning later this month, the trial scheme will demand that applicants from specific nations provide “at least $5,000” in collateral before their visas can be issued.
If the application complies with all visa requirements, the money will be repaid. The money will be lost if the applicant stays in the US after the deadline.
“Consular officers may require covered nonimmigrant visa applicants to post a bond of up to $15,000 as a condition of visa issuance,” the agency said in a notice to be published Tuesday in the US Federal Register.
The letter stated that only foreign nationals from nations deemed to have “high visa overstays rates” according to a 2023 Department of Homeland Security report would be impacted by the 12-month program.
Additionally, the letter stated that applicants from nations “where screening and vetting information is deemed deficient,” as well as those who were granted citizenship without a residency requirement, will have to pay bond payments.
“The pilot reinforces the Trump Administration’s commitment to enforcing US immigration laws and safeguarding US national security,” a State Department spokesperson said in response to an AFP inquiry.
Neither the notice nor the spokesperson specified which countries would be impacted by the new rule.
The program, which will begin on August 20, will apply to B-1 or B-2 nonimmigrant 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, Trump and his administration have cracked down on migration to the United States.
The State Department justified the launch of the pilot program 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.”
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