The US State Department is proposing a visa bond requirement of up to $15,000 for some foreign visitors, a controversial move aimed at reducing visa overstays but one critics warn may make travel to the United States unaffordable for many.
According to a notice set to be published Tuesday in the Federal Register, the department will launch a 12-month pilot program targeting applicants for business and tourist (B-1/B-2) visas from countries deemed to have high overstay rates or weak internal security and screening systems.
The bond amounts would be set at $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000. The department said the pilot is designed to “ensure that the US government is not financially liable if a visitor does not comply with the terms of his or her visa.”
The measure is part of a broader Trump administration effort to tighten US immigration and visa policy. Just last week, the department imposed stricter rules requiring additional in-person interviews for many visa renewals. It also proposed new passport requirements for entrants into the Diversity Visa Lottery.
The advance copy of the notice, posted Monday on the Federal Register’s website, clarified the criteria for inclusion in the bond program.
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“Aliens applying for visas as temporary visitors for business or pleasure and who are nationals of countries identified by the department as having high visa overstay rates, where screening and vetting information is deemed deficient, or offering citizenship by investment, if the alien obtained citizenship with no residency requirement, may be subject to the pilot program,” the notice stated.
The list of affected countries will be made public once the program takes effect, 15 days after formal publication. The proposed bond would not apply to nationals of countries participating in the US Visa Waiver Program and may be waived on a case-by-case basis depending on the applicant’s circumstances.
Visa bonds have been floated in the past but never implemented, due to logistical concerns and public perception issues. The State Department acknowledged this in the notice but said past objections are now outdated.
“That prior view is not supported by any recent examples or evidence, as visa bonds have not generally been required in any recent period,” it said.
Critics say the bond proposal could deter travel, complicate the application process, and send a message that the US is closing itself off.
Advocates of the policy argue it could provide financial incentives for visitors to comply with immigration rules and reduce long-standing concerns about visa overstays, particularly from countries with historically high violation rates.
