The US State Department has proposed a new rule that may require certain business and tourist visa applicants to pay a bond of up to $15,000, raising concerns that the cost could make travel to the United States unaffordable for many.
According to a notice set to be published in the Federal Register, the department plans to launch a 12-month pilot program targeting applicants from countries with high visa overstay rates or weak internal document verification systems. These individuals may be asked to post bonds of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 when applying for a visa.
The pilot program is expected to begin within 15 days of its formal publication. The measure is aimed at minimizing financial risk for the US government if visitors overstay or violate visa terms.
Applicants affected would include those seeking temporary visitor visas for business (B-1) or tourism (B-2) from countries with poor vetting processes or those offering citizenship-by-investment without requiring residency. Affected countries will be identified when the program is officially launched. However, the bond may be waived on a case-by-case basis.
This policy would not apply to citizens of countries enrolled in the Visa Waiver Program, which allows up to 90 days of visa-free travel for tourism or business. Most of these 42 countries are in Europe, along with others in Asia, the Middle East, and beyond.
The proposal follows a series of recent restrictions by the Trump administration to tighten visa procedures. These include mandating additional in-person interviews for many renewal applicants and requiring valid passports for Visa Lottery participants.
While similar bond proposals have been considered in the past, they were never implemented due to administrative challenges and concerns over public perception. The State Department now argues that there is no recent evidence to justify those earlier concerns.
