The government increased the number of countries covered by the visa bond program from six to thirteen. This means residents from these countries must pay a five to fifteen-thousand-dollar reimbursable bond when applying for a U.S. visitor visa. The expansion went into effect on January 1, 2026.
Introduced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the visa bond program requires a monetary deposit for a B-1 or B-2 visitor’s visas. Visitors receive a refund if they depart the U.S. within the specified validity period. Finally, visa beneficiaries can only enter the U.S. via three airports: Boston Logan, New York JFK, and Washington Dulles.
Impacted Countries
The visa bond program applies to visitors from the following countries:
- Bhutan.
- Botswana.
- Central African Republic.
- Gambia.
- Guinea.
- Guinea-Bissau.
- Malawi.
- Mauritania.
- Namibia.
- Sao Tome and Principe.
- Tanzania.
- Turkmenistan.
- Zambia.
The government explained the purpose of the program is to dissuade visitors from affected countries from overstaying their visas. Student visitors from the affected countries aren’t subject to the visa bond program. Additionally, visitors from countries that are a part of the visa waiver program are exempt too.
Initially planned for a six-month pilot period in 2020, the government didn’t implement the visa bond program because of travel declining due to the coronavirus pandemic. This new iteration of the visa bond program has a one-year pilot program. The Department of State (DOS) predicted the program would raise twenty million dollars in revenue for the U.S. government.
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