Visa Bond Program: A Costly Return
By Darius Spearman (africanelements)
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Visa Bonds Explained
The United States State Department is bringing back a policy that could make it much harder for some people to visit the U.S. This policy is called a visa bond program. It will require travelers from certain countries to pay a large sum of money, up to $15,000, before they can enter the U.S. on tourist or business visas.
A visa bond is a financial guarantee. The U.S. government requires it from certain non-immigrant visa applicants. Its main goal is to make sure that the visa holder leaves the United States on time. It also ensures they follow the rules of their visa. If someone overstays their visa or breaks its rules, the government can keep the bond money. However, if the person leaves the U.S. as required, the bond money is returned to them (fosterglobal.com).
Reviving Past Policies
This new program is not entirely new. It revives a policy first suggested in November 2020 during the Trump administration. It targets countries with high rates of visa overstays. Many of these countries are in Africa. The program is a 12-month pilot. It will apply to people from countries where more than 10% of visitors overstay their visas. The bonds are designed to ensure visitors leave the U.S. on schedule. The money will be refunded when they depart, become naturalized citizens, or pass away.
The official list of affected countries will be posted on the Travel.State.Gov website. This will happen at least 15 days before the program starts. The list can also be updated with similar notice. In the past, federal data showed countries like Chad, Eritrea, Haiti, Myanmar, Yemen, Burundi, Djibouti, and Togo had high overstay rates. A notice published on August 5 states that this program will help the State Department. It will allow them to see if bonds are a good way to enforce immigration rules. They will work with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of the Treasury on this (immpolicytracking.org).
Executive Order 14159
This initiative is backed by Presidential Executive Order 14159. This order is called “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.” It was issued on January 20, 2025. Section 14 of this order specifically tells the Department of Treasury, the Department of State (DOS), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to create a system. This system will manage all bonds that the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Homeland Security can legally ask for under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) (immpolicytracking.org).
The main goal of this executive order is to make immigration enforcement and border security stronger. Visa bonds are one tool to help achieve this. They aim to make sure people follow their visa rules and reduce the number of overstays. The order became effective on January 20, 2025 (immpolicytracking.org).
Understanding Overstays
A visa overstay happens when a non-immigrant visitor stays in the United States longer than allowed by their visa. This authorized period is usually shown on their I-94 arrival/departure record. Overstay rates are figured out by comparing the number of non-immigrant visitors who should leave within a certain time to the number who actually do. The difference is the number of overstays. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) releases reports every year that show these rates for each country and visa type.
In April 2019, an executive order told DHS and the State Department to look at countries with high “visa overstay rates.” They were also asked to suggest ways to respond, including requiring administrative bonds (fwd.us). The Visa Bond Pilot Program applies to B-1/B-2 visa applicants. These are people from countries that had overstay rates of 10% or more in the B-1/B-2 category. This data comes from the DHS Fiscal Year 2019 Entry/Exit Overstay Report (fosterglobal.com). Countries not in the Visa Waiver Program were responsible for over 300,000 total overstays in FY 2018 (citizenshipbyinvestment.news).
What is a Visa Overstay?
Visa Overstay: This happens when a non-immigrant visitor stays in the U.S. longer than the time allowed on their visa. This period is usually noted on their I-94 record. Overstay rates are calculated by comparing how many visitors are expected to leave versus how many actually do. The difference shows the number of overstays. This is a key factor in determining which countries are affected by the new visa bond program.
Countries and Bond Amounts
The countries affected by this visa bond pilot program are those that DHS has identified. These are countries with B-1/B-2 visa overstay rates of 10% or higher. While countries like Malawi, Zambia, Chad, and Eritrea were mentioned early on, the full and current list will be published by the Department of State or DHS. The main reasons for choosing these countries are their overstay rates. Other factors include possible national security risks or if they do not share enough information (ahluwalialaw.com).
The Trump administration is also thinking about expanding its travel ban to include over 40 countries. These restrictions would be based on perceived national security risks (ahluwalialaw.com). Tier 1 countries, which face a full entry ban, include nations that allegedly do not share enough security information or have high terrorism risks. Examples are Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Libya, Afghanistan, and Iraq (ahluwalialaw.com). Tier 2 countries face specific visa bans. These include restrictions on certain visa types like student (F-1), work (H-1B), or diversity lottery visas. Examples are Nigeria, Sudan, Iran, Venezuela, and Pakistan (ahluwalialaw.com).
Determining Bond Levels
The specific reasons for setting bond amounts between $5,000 and $15,000 are not fully detailed. However, it is generally understood that the Department of State (DOS) or Department of Homeland Security (DHS) decides these amounts. They base this on how likely an individual applicant is to overstay their visa. Factors that might influence the bond level include the applicant's home country, especially if it has a high overstay rate. Their personal situation, such as ties to their home country and financial stability, could also play a role. The goal is to set an amount that is high enough to discourage overstays. It also needs to be an amount that the applicant can realistically pay.
The visa bond pilot program specifically applies to B-1/B-2 visas. B-1 visas are for people traveling to the U.S. for business reasons. This includes attending conferences, negotiating contracts, or meeting with business partners. B-2 visas are for people traveling for tourism, vacations, visiting family or friends, getting medical treatment, or attending social events. Other visa types, such as F (student) visas, are not part of this pilot program. This is because the initial focus of the visa bond idea was on visa types that have historically higher overstay rates. These are usually short-term visits where it might be harder to confirm or enforce the person's intent to return. By limiting the program's scope, the Department of State can see if processing visa bonds is practical. They can then decide if they want to extend this requirement to other visa types later (fosterglobal.com).
Refunds and Other Fees
The conditions for getting visa bonds refunded are timely departure, naturalization, or death. However, the exact process and timeline for these refunds are not fully explained. Usually, for a timely departure, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would check the person's exit from the U.S. using their entry/exit records. Once this is confirmed, the bond would be processed for release. The specific steps, documents needed from the bondholder, and how long it typically takes for refunds would be explained in official government guidelines or rules for the bond program.
The information does not explain how the “visa integrity fee” or a proposed $1,000 expedited interview fee relate to the visa bond program. However, these fees would generally be separate charges. A visa integrity fee might be an administrative cost for better checks or to prevent fraud. An expedited interview fee would be for faster processing of a visa application. The visa bond, on the other hand, is a refundable financial guarantee. So, these fees would likely increase the total cost of getting a visa, separate from the bond amount that might be returned.
Legal and Policy Context
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) is the main law that governs immigration in the United States. It sets out the rules for foreign nationals entering, staying in, and leaving the country. It also gives the Department of State (DOS) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the power to ask for bonds. While the INA allows this, using bonds for non-immigrant visas has been rare in the past. The legal concerns mentioned likely relate to how widely these bonds might be used, the possibility of discrimination, or challenges to the executive branch's power to put such broad requirements in place without specific approval from Congress. Supreme Court rulings would typically deal with the limits of the executive branch's power in immigration matters or the constitutional rights of non-citizens.
The Trump administration is also considering a $1,000 fee for tourists and other non-immigrant visa applicants who want an expedited interview. However, government lawyers have raised legal concerns about this. The State Department's legal team said there was a “high risk” that the $1,000 expedited fee would be rejected by the White House budget office or struck down in U.S. courts. This is because setting a fee that is higher than the cost to provide the service goes against past Supreme Court decisions (reuters.com).
Impact on Travelers and Tourism
The U.S. Travel Association and human rights advocates have expressed worries about the visa bond program. However, the provided information does not give a detailed analysis or data on how it specifically affects travel numbers, economic impact, or potential discrimination. Such policies could discourage legitimate travelers because of the high financial cost of the bond. This could lead to fewer tourists and business travelers from the affected countries. In turn, this could hurt the U.S. economy, especially industries that rely on international visitors.
Human rights advocates often worry about profiling, how these policies might unfairly affect people from certain regions, and the creation of a two-tiered system that could seem discriminatory. The U.S. Travel Association, which represents the tourism industry, thinks this program might affect about 2,000 applicants. Most of these would be from countries that do not send many travelers to the U.S. The group warned that these policies, along with visa delays and new fees, are already causing a sharp drop in tourism. In March alone, international arrivals dropped by 11.6%. Travel from Canada and Mexico also fell by 20% compared to the previous year.
Recent Decline in U.S. Tourism (March Data)
Enforcement and Evaluation
The information states that bonds will be posted with U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE will collect all bonds and keep any fees if the bond is broken. This means ICE is the main agency responsible for managing the bond money and making sure rules are followed. If a traveler overstays, DHS, likely through ICE, will check their entry and exit records to confirm the overstay. Once an overstay is confirmed, the bond will be declared “breached,” and the money will be given to the U.S. government. The exact steps for declaring a breach and how long it takes to forfeit the bond are not detailed. However, it would involve officially telling the bondholder (fosterglobal.com).
The Department of State (DOS) will use this pilot program to see if it is practical to process visa bonds with help from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). While specific measures are not given, typical ways to judge such a program would include: how well it reduces overstay rates among the targeted groups, the administrative work and cost of running the bond system, the rate of bonds forfeited versus refunded, the effect on the number of visa applications from affected countries, and feedback from consular officers and applicants. Success would likely be measured by a clear reduction in overstays without creating too much administrative or financial burden that outweighs the benefits (fosterglobal.com).
Broader Policy and Social Justice
The visa bond program is part of a larger effort to tighten immigration policies. This effort is influenced by the Trump administration. This includes a travel ban that mostly affects African and Middle Eastern countries. It also involves ending protected status for many immigrants. A proposed $250 visa integrity fee, which is among the highest in the world, has also been signed into law (washingtonpost.com, cnn.com). This fee applies to leisure and business travelers, as well as international students. It affects people from many countries, including India, China, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, and the Philippines (washingtonpost.com).
Additional Visa-Related Costs
Refundable financial guarantee for certain travelers.
Mandatory fee for nonimmigrant visa applicants.
Proposed fee for faster visa interview appointments.
For travelers from Visa Waiver Program countries.
The visa integrity fee does not apply to travelers from over 40 countries in the Visa Waiver Program. These include Australia, Chile, France, Qatar, and Singapore. However, ESTA fees for these travelers are expected to go up to at least $40 (washingtonpost.com, cnn.com). Human rights advocates and immigration experts are worried that these policies could lead to profiling and detentions. They also fear it will further discourage travel to the U.S., especially from the Global South. These concerns highlight the potential for these policies to disproportionately affect people of color and those from developing nations, raising questions about fairness and equity in U.S. immigration practices.
Countries Previously Cited for High Overstay Rates
- Chad
- Eritrea
- Haiti
- Myanmar
- Yemen
- Burundi
- Djibouti
- Togo
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Darius Spearman has been a professor of Black Studies at San Diego City College since 2007. He is the author of several books, including Between The Color Lines: A History of African Americans on the California Frontier Through 1890. You can visit Darius online at africanelements.org.
