The U.S. State Department said it is adding 25 countries to a visa “bond” list, raising the number of countries whose citizens must post bonds to 38.
In the latest change, the State Department’s notice says the bond requirement for the new countries will begin Jan. 21, according to information posted on the travel.state.gov website.
The bonds can range from $5,000 up to $15,000, and the requirement does not guarantee that a visa will be approved, the notice and U.S. officials’ defense described in the report said. The bond amount is to be refunded if the visa is denied or if a visa holder later demonstrates compliance with the terms of the visa.
The countries covered by the bond requirement as of Jan. 21 include Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Benin, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Fiji, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Nigeria, Senegal, Tajikistan, Togo, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
Those additions bring the total number of countries on the list to 38, with most of the countries in Africa and some in Latin America and Asia, according to the report. The countries previously included on the list were Bhutan, Botswana, the Central African Republic, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mauritania, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, Tanzania, Turkmenistan and Zambia.
U.S. officials defended the bond program as intended to ensure that citizens of targeted countries do not overstay their visas. Payment of the bond, however, does not function as a visa approval, and repayment is tied to visa outcomes or proof of compliance with visa conditions.
The expansion also reflects what the report described as a broader effort by the Trump administration to tighten entry requirements for the United States. The report said those efforts have included requiring visa applicants to attend in-person interviews and disclose years of social media histories, along with detailed accounts of their and their families’ prior travel and living arrangements.