In Washington, D.C. — The administration of Donald Trump is about to start a new pilot program that could force tourists and business (B1/B2) visa applicants from some nations to put up bonds of up to $15,000 in order to get their visas. The US Department of State’s announcement of this measure shows that the administration’s crackdown on visa and immigration overstay rates is still going strong.
The 12-month visa bound pilot program will start across the United States. It will focus on immigrants from countries with high visa overstay rates, where screening and vetting information is not enough, or that offer “Citizenship by Investment” programs.
The official notice in the Federal Register says, “Consular officers may require covered nonimmigrant visa applicants to post a bond of up to $15,000 as a condition of visa issuance.”
Details about how it will work and which countries would be affected
The experimental program will start on August 20, 2025, and endure for at least a year. The exact list of countries that will be affected by these bonds will be made public “no fewer than 15 days” before the program starts. This indicates that the list is likely to be disclosed on or around August 5, 2025, which is 15 days after the rules were published in the Federal Register. This list may also change with 15 days’ notice.
The Treasury Department is in charge of collecting the bonds. People who follow the rules of their visa and leave the U.S. within the time limit, using certain ports of entry, will be able to get their money back. Also, those who are affected must enter the United States within 30 days of getting their visa.
Bringing back a program from the Trump administration
This new program is based on a concept that was initially brought up in November 2020, during the last months of Trump’s first term. At that time, President Trump had said that he wanted to use bonds as a “diplomatic tool” to make sure that visitors leave the U.S. on time and don’t remain longer than their visas allow.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a big drop in global travel, therefore the first trial program was never completely put into action. The State Department’s official handout says, “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a worldwide decrease in global travel, the Department did not implement the pilot in 2020 and therefore did not provide any data on the feasibility for full implementation.”
Continued crackdown on immigration
The Trump administration is trying to make immigration rules stricter, and the visa bond program is one way they are doing this. The administration put a travel ban on citizens of 12 countries earlier this year, including Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. They said it was for national security reasons, high visa overstay rates, and not enough cooperation with U.S. law enforcement. These countries were labelled “very high risk” because of things like not enough screening and links to terrorism.
Countries including Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela also had certain limits put on them. This meant that certain nonimmigrant and immigrant visas (B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M, J) were limited because of high overstay rates or a lack of cooperation from law enforcement.
The State Department has also just released new guidelines telling U.S. diplomats to look at the online behavior of foreign students before giving them educational and exchange visas. Diplomats may view students who refuse to unlock their social media sites as suspicious.
Critics say that these strict rules could keep legitimate visitors and business travelers away, which would hurt the U.S. economy and its reputation as a friendly place to visit.