The Trump administration will require visa applicants from 12 additional countries to post bonds of up to $15,000, starting April 12. The requirement applies regardless of whether the trip is for tourism, study, or employment; the bond amount—$5,000, $10,000, or $15,000—will be set based on the visa interview outcome. For many of the affected countries, those sums equal at least a year’s average wages, and in some cases several years’ earnings.
The countries affected are:
– Cambodia
– Ethiopia
– Georgia
– Grenada
– Lesotho
– Mauritius
– Mongolia
– Mozambique
– Nicaragua
– Papua New Guinea
– Seychelles
– Tunisia
Bonds will be refunded if the visa holder departs the US on or before the authorized date of stay, or if the applicant chooses not to travel.
With this addition, 50 countries will soon be subject to the bond requirement; the administration had previously imposed similar bonds on 38 other nations last year. The State Department says the program targets countries with high visa overstay rates, asserting the visa bond program has “proven effective at drastically reducing the number of visa recipients who overstay their visas and illegally remain in the United States.”
This move is part of a broader tightening of legal immigration under the administration. In January, it temporarily paused immigrant visa processing for 75 countries — including Afghanistan, Brazil, Egypt, Russia, and Thailand — preventing nationals from those countries from obtaining employment or family-based visas. That pause has prompted lawsuits and calls from House Democrats for the administration to revoke the policy.
Edited by: Mark Hallam
