The State Department announced that it will expand its visa bond programme to 50 countries starting April 2, requiring visitors from those nations to post a $15,000 refundable bond before obtaining B1 business or B2 tourist visas.
The move aims to deter visa overstays, a persistent challenge for U.S. immigration enforcement.
NewsQuest reports that under the programme, the bond is returned to travelers who comply with visa terms and return home on time — or who do not travel at all.
“The visa bond program has already proven effective at drastically reducing the number of visa recipients who overstay their visas and illegally remain in the United States,” the department said in a statement.
Since its inception, the programme has issued nearly 1,000 visas with a 97 percent compliance rate, according to officials.
That starkly contrasts with the final year of the Biden administration, when more than 44,000 visitors from now-included countries overstayed their visas.
The expansion adds 12 nations — Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and Tunisia — to 38 others already participating.
Those include Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cuba, Djibouti, Fiji, Gabon, Guinea, Malawi, Nepal, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Uganda and Venezuela.
Countries are selected based on immigration risk indicators, such as high overstay rates, the department said.
It emphasized that the bond is fully refundable for compliant travelers.
Officials highlighted potential savings for taxpayers: Removing an unlawfully present immigrant costs more than $18,000 on average, and the programme could save up to $800 million annually by preventing overstays.
