U.S. plans visa bonds of up to $15,000 for some visitors

The U.S. State Department will ask tourists and business travellers from countries with high overstay rates to lodge bonds of as much as $15,000 when applying for a visa, under a year-long pilot intended to curb illegal stays.

The 12-month programme, outlined in a notice due to appear in the Federal Register on Tuesday, would apply to applicants for B-1 business or B-2 tourist visas from nations deemed to have “high visa overstay rates” or weak identity-document controls.

Successful applicants would have to post a bond of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000, which would be returned if they leave the country on time.

“Aliens applying for visas as temporary visitors for business or pleasure … may be subject to the pilot programme,” the department said, adding that consular officers could waive the requirement case by case.

The scheme will start 15 days after publication; a list of affected countries will be released at that point.

Travellers from the 42 nations in the Visa Waiver Programme—including most of Europe, Japan and Australia—are exempt.

The bond is the latest in a series of measures tightening visa rules: last week the department reinstated extra in-person interviews for many renewals and proposed mandatory passports for entrants to the visa-lottery.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection counted about 510,000 suspected in-country overstays in the 2023 fiscal year, equal to 1.31 % of the 39 million expected departures.

Non-waiver nations recorded a rate of 3.2 %. Officials say the bond is meant to shield the government from costs when visitors remain illegally and to encourage timely departures.

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