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The U.S. Department of State says it will expand its visa bond program to include a total of 50 countries beginning April 2, 2026.
It requires certain foreign nationals to post a $15,000 bond before they can receive B1 or B2 visas for business or tourism.
In an official statement posted on its website, the department said the bond “will be returned to visa recipients who return home in compliance with the terms of the visa and the bond or does not travel.”
The requirement applies to applicants from countries that the department judges to pose a higher immigration risk.
The State Department described the visa bond program as an effective tool for “preventing illegal visa overstays,”
It noted that the policy “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 added that “nearly 1,000 foreigners have been issued visas under the program, and 97% of bonded travelers have returned home from the United States on time.”
By contrast, in Biden’s last year in office, more than 44,000 visitors from the 50 current Visa Bonds countries overstayed, it added.
The department also said the visa bond policy may be applied to additional countries in the future “based on a range of immigration risk factors.”
Officials emphasised the financial impact of the program on U.S. taxpayers.
“It costs the U.S. taxpayer over $18,000 on average to remove an alien illegally present in the United States,” the statement said.
“The Department of State is saving U.S. taxpayers up to $800 million per year that would otherwise be required to remove these aliens who overstay,” the statement also noted.
The new countries included in the visa bond programme are Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, and Tunisia.
These will join the 38 countries already in the program.
Those countries are Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Fiji, Gabon, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Mauritania, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
