U.S. Visa Applicants Could Face $15,000 Bond Requirement to Enter the Country

The State Department is considering a new requirement for business and tourist visa applicants to post a bond of up to $15,000 to enter the United States, which could make the process too costly for many individuals.

NOTE: The video is from a previous report.

According to a notification to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, the department plans to initiate a 12-month pilot program. This program would require applicants from countries with high overstay rates and insufficient internal document security controls to post a bond of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 when applying for a visa.

This proposal follows the Trump administration’s efforts to tighten visa application requirements. The State Department recently stated that many visa renewal applicants would now need to undergo an in-person interview, which was previously not mandatory. Additionally, they propose that applicants for the Visa Diversity Lottery program must possess valid passports from their country of citizenship.

The Federal Register’s preview of the bond notice, released on Monday, indicated that the pilot program would begin within 15 days of its official publication. The program aims to ensure that the U.S. government does not bear financial responsibility if a visitor fails to adhere to their visa terms.

The notice specifies that temporary visa applicants for business or pleasure from countries identified as having high visa overstay rates, or where screening and vetting information is deemed insufficient, or those offering citizenship by investment without a residency requirement, may be subject to this pilot program.

The countries affected will be listed once the program takes effect, it said. The bond could be waived depending on an applicant’s individual circumstances.

The bond would not apply to citizens of countries enrolled in the Visa Waiver Program, which enables travel for business or tourism for up to 90 days. The majority of the 42 countries enrolled in the program are in Europe, with others in Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere.

Visa bonds have been proposed in the past but have not been implemented. The State Department has traditionally discouraged the requirement because of the cumbersome process of posting and discharging a bond and because of a possible misperceptions by the public.

However, the department said that previous view “is not supported by any recent examples or evidence, as visa bonds have not generally been required in any recent period.”