US expands $15,000 visa bond rule to 7 more countries, list now stands at 13: Here's what it means

The Trump administration has expanded a policy requiring visa applicants from certain countries to post security bonds of up to $15,000 to enter the United States, adding seven more nations, five of them in Africa, to the list. With this development, a total of 13 countries, most of them African, are now subject to the requirement, making US visas prohibitively expensive for many applicants.

Last week, the State Department silently included Turkmenistan, Bhutan, Botswana, the Central African Republic, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Namibia to the list. Those designations come into effect on Jan. 1, as per the notice posted on the travel.state.gov website.

The step is part of a broader tightening of US entry rules under the Trump administration, which also includes mandatory in-person visa interviews for applicants from all countries, disclosure of social media histories spanning several years, and detailed information on applicants’ and their families’ past travel and residence.

The bond requirement helps deter visa overstays

US officials argue that the bond requirement, ranging from $5,000 to $15,000, helps deter visa overstays by citizens from the targeted countries. However, a bond's payment does not guarantee that a visa will be given, but the amount will be returned if the visa is refused or when a visa holder shows they have complied with the terms of the visa.

The newly added nations have been grouped with Mauritania, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tanzania, Gambia, Malawi and Zambia, all of which were included in the list in August and October last year.