U.S. Proposes Visa Bond Up to $15,000 for Travelers from 'High-Risk' Countries

Olga Nesterova
3 days ago
2 min read

The U.S. State Department is launching a 12-month pilot program that would require certain visa applicants to pay a refundable bond of $5,000 to $15,000 in order to enter the country for business or tourism.

The new rule targets travelers from countries with high visa overstay rates, lax internal security controls, or that offer citizenship-by-investment with no residency requirement. The goal, according to officials, is to "ensure the U.S. isn't financially liable if a visitor overstays their visa".

The bond requirement:

Would apply only to temporary visitor (B-1/B-2) visa applicants
Does not affect travelers from Visa Waiver Program countries
May be waived based on individual circumstances

The list of affected countries will be published once the rule takes effect, within 15 days of its formal posting in the Federal Register.

This is part of the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on visa policies, which last week also included:

Reinstating in-person interviews for many visa renewals
Requiring valid passports for Diversity Lottery applicants

While visa bonds have been proposed in the past, they’ve rarely been implemented. The department now says previous concerns about feasibility and public perception are unsupported by "evidence".

Who is likely to be affected?

The State Department has not yet officially published the list of affected countries, but based on the criteria outlined in the pilot program, we can reasonably expect the bond requirement to apply to the following commonly cited high-overstay countries according to to DHS Overstay Reports (2023–2024):

Nigeria
Eritrea
Yemen
Chad
Liberia
Djibouti
Bhutan
Afghanistan
Syria
Some Caribbean nations (e.g., Haiti, Dominican Republic)

Countries with Citizenship-by-Investment (CBI) programs likely to be scrutinized:

St. Kitts and Nevis
Dominica
Antigua and Barbuda
Grenada
Vanuatu
Turkey

These CBI countries allow foreigners to obtain passports without residency — a concern if someone applies using a secondary passport.

Not Affected: The bond will not apply to nationals of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) — 42 countries, mostly in Europe, plus nations like Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.