Foreign ticket holders from World Cup qualifying countries will be allowed to enter the United States without posting a visa bond under a State Department change announced Wednesday, a reversal from a requirement introduced as part of the Trump administration’s broader immigration crackdown.
In the State Department’s announcement, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar said the U.S. is waiving visa bonds for qualified fans who bought World Cup tickets and opted into FIFA’s Pass system for expedited visa appointments as of April 15. The U.S. government had previously required travelers from 50 countries to pay bonds ranging up to $15,000 to enter the country.
The bond policy began last year, the State Department said, aimed at countries the administration characterized as having high rates of people overstaying their visas and other security issues. Under the suspension announced Wednesday, citizens of five World Cup-qualified countries who bought tickets from FIFA are exempt from the bond requirement.
The five countries named by the State Department were Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia. The State Department also said that World Cup team players, coaches and some staff had already been exempt from the bond requirement as part of the administration’s earlier orders to prioritize visa processing for the tournament.
FIFA, in its own statement, said the announcement shows “our ongoing collaboration with the U.S. government and the White House task force for the FIFA World Cup to deliver a successful, record-breaking and unforgettable global event,” adding that it thanked the administration for the partnership.
The waiver is being described by the reporting as a rare loosening of immigration requirements during an administration period marked by other restrictions that critics say are inconsistent with the global-event posture of the World Cup. Those restrictions include a bar on travelers from Iran and Haiti, with World Cup players, coaches and support personnel described as exempt, and partial restrictions for travelers from Ivory Coast and Senegal under an expanded version of a travel ban.
The reporting also noted that some prospective World Cup travelers had faced potential new requirements involving social media histories, but that U.S. Customs and Border Protection policy had not gone into effect. It further said the administration deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at airports recently while Transportation Security Administration personnel were not being paid during a partial federal shutdown.
Human rights and advocacy groups, including Amnesty International and dozens of U.S. civil and human rights organizations, issued a “World Cup travel advisory,” warning travelers about conditions in the United States, and the reporting cited a report from the hotel industry’s main advocacy group saying visa barriers and other geopolitical issues were “significantly suppressing international demand,” leading to bookings for the tournament far below what had been anticipated.
Separately, the American Hotel & Lodging Association said travelers were concerned about potentially lengthy visa wait times, increased fees and uncertainty about processing procedures. The bond requirement’s structure, according to the reporting, required visa applicants from affected countries to pay $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 in bonds that would be refunded if the traveler complied with visa terms or if the visa application was denied.
As of early April, the reporting said U.S. officials believed the number of World Cup fans affected by the bond requirement was relatively small—possibly about 250 people—though they said the figure was changing quickly as more people bought tickets and some with tickets decided not to travel. The reporting also said FIFA had requested the waiver, which required approval by the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, and that it was discussed during multiple meetings in Washington over several months.