President Trump is of course very passionate about immigration. We’ve seen his administration introduce a travel ban targeting 19 countries, and he also plans to introduce a bizarre $250 “visa integrity fee” for visitors from select countries.
Well, that visa integrity fee is nothing compared to another initiative that will soon be rolled out, requiring visitors to the United States to post bond of up to $15,000 in order to get a visa.
State Department will require some visitors to post bond
The State Department plans to roll out a 12-month pilot program that will require foreign nationals from certain countries to post a bond of up to $15,000, in order to get a business or tourism visa. The idea is that bonds may be required for travelers from countries that have high rates of visa overstays, or where screening and vetting information is deficient.
It’s not yet clear which countries will be covered by this program, but the countries will be announced at least 15 days before this new policy takes effect. It’s expected that this new policy will take effect this month, and the pilot program will run through August 2026. This program is a response to Trump’s executive order to stem illegal immigration into the United States.
Per the document that has been published so far:
The Pilot Program is further designed to serve as a diplomatic tool to encourage foreign governments to take all appropriate actions to ensure robust screening and vetting for all citizens in matters of identity verification and public safety, to create safeguards in CBI programs that provide citizenship without any residency in the country, and to encourage specified countries with visa overstays to ensure their nationals timely depart the United States after making temporary visits.
I mean… what can we really say about this?
It goes without saying that people will be in one of two camps on this (and I’ll try to describe this as diplomatically as possible).
In one camp, you have people who think it’s important to do absolutely everything possible to keep out undocumented migrants and those who may overstay their visa, no matter what impact it has on other aspects of society, including tourism numbers.
In the other camp, you have people who think this concept borders on cruel and racist, and who think that all of these new policies will have a negative impact on tourism, which is bad for the economy.
Regardless of how you feel about immigration, I will say, I feel sorry for the potential impact this will have on those living in the United States with family from other countries. Many people may struggle with the bond, and it’ll make it significantly more challenging for them to reunite with their families.
No matter what country we’re talking about, I’m not a fan of creating barriers to travel. I’ve been saying that for the 17+ years that I’ve been writing this blog, and I believe that whether it comes in the form of something as minor as an electronic travel authorization, or something as major as requiring travelers to post bond to visit a country.
The United States is certainly in uncharted territory when it comes to the extent of the travel restrictions that we’re seeing. Visa integrity fees and having to post bond to visit a country?! What a time to be alive! It almost makes some travel restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic look mild, by comparison.
Bottom line
The United States plans to introduce new travel restrictions, in the form of requiring visitors from select countries to post bond of up to $15,000 in order to get a tourism or business visa for the United States. This is targeted at those people from countries where a lot of people overstay visas, or where limited vetting is possible.
We should shortly see what countries are included in this… oy. Usually you associate posting bond with jail, so I guess it says something about how we’re viewing visitors.
What do you make of the United States adding a bond requirement for some visas?
