by Jeroslyn JoVonn
August 5, 2025
A brand new pilot program would require visa candidates to submit a bond of as much as $15,000 to enter the U.S.
The State Division is contemplating requiring visa candidates to pay upwards of $15,000 to enter the USA.
An Aug. 4 discover posted to the Federal Register introduced a 12-month pilot program that might require vacationers from international locations with excessive visa overstay charges and weak inside doc safety to submit bonds of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 when making use of for a visa, AP studies. The transfer may make the visa course of unaffordable for a lot of amid declines in worldwide tourism to the U.S. as a result of criticism of the nation’s present insurance policies being unwelcoming to vacationers.
The proposal is a part of the Trump administration’s continued efforts to tighten visa necessities. Together with the urged bond, the State Division additionally revealed that many people searching for to resume their visas would now want to finish an in-person interview, an additional step that wasn’t required earlier than. Moreover, the division is pushing for a rule that might require Variety Visa Lottery candidates to carry legitimate passports from their nation of citizenship.
A preview of the bond proposal states that the pilot program would go into impact 15 days after its official publication. The international locations that will likely be impacted will likely be revealed as soon as this system launches. The measure, which will be waived relying on the person’s state of affairs, is meant to guard the U.S. authorities from monetary duty if a customer fails to adjust to the situations of their visa.
“Aliens making use of for visas as short-term guests for enterprise or pleasure and who’re nationals of nations recognized by the division as having excessive visa overstay charges, the place screening and vetting data is deemed poor, or providing citizenship by funding, if the alien obtained citizenship with no residency requirement, could also be topic to the pilot program,” the discover mentioned.
The bond requirement wouldn’t apply to vacationers from international locations within the Visa Waiver Program, which permits visits for enterprise or tourism functions for as much as 90 days. Many of the 42 collaborating nations are in Europe, with others positioned in Asia, the Center East, and past.
The brand new proposal marks the primary time the State Division may implement such a bond coverage, regardless of traditionally opposing it as a result of complexity of the method and issues about the way it is perhaps perceived by the general public.
RELATED CONTENT: CLOCK IT! You Can Nonetheless Get Flown Out With out A Actual ID
