The U.S. State Department plans to launch a 12-month pilot program that would require some foreign nationals seeking tourist and business visas to post bonds of up to $15,000 before entering the country.
The move revives a policy first proposed under the Trump administration in 2020 but never implemented. According to a draft of a temporary final rule, the program will target travelers from countries with what the U.S. government considers “significant overstay rates.”
Officials say the goal of the initiative is to evaluate the effectiveness of using visa bonds to ensure compliance with visa terms, particularly the requirement to leave the United States before a visa expires.
The State Department said it would publish the list of affected countries at least 15 days before the pilot begins on its website, Travel.State.Gov. The list may be updated with the same notice period.
Travelers who post a bond will be eligible for a refund if they depart the U.S. on time, become naturalized citizens, or die while in the country. Refunds will be administered in accordance with regulations from the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The bond program follows a broader immigration agenda under President Donald Trump, which included travel bans affecting multiple countries in the Middle East and Africa. Some of the nations previously subject to the travel ban, including Chad, Eritrea, Haiti, Myanmar, and Yemen, also have high rates of visa overstays. Federal data from 2023 lists other countries with elevated overstay rates, such as Burundi, Djibouti, and Togo.
The U.S. Travel Association said the pilot program appears to be limited in scope and would likely affect only around 2,000 applicants, primarily from countries with relatively low travel volume to the United States.
Separately, the State Department has issued new guidance instructing U.S. consular officers to examine the social media profiles of international students before granting educational and exchange visas. According to reporting by The Guardian, students who refuse to unlock their social media accounts may be flagged as potentially withholding information from U.S. officials.
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