Trump administration has introduced measures meant to restrict both legal and illegal immigration to the US. Published On 18 Mar 202618 Mar 2026The United States Department of State has added a dozen countries to a list that requires visa applicants to post bonds of as much as $15,000 for entry into the US.Wednesday’s list expansion is the latest move under President Donald Trump to restrict immigration into the US from largely non-Western nations.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe 12 additional countries bring the total number of nations subject to the restrictions to 50. Most of them are African nations, and critics argue that the high bonds discriminate against low-income travellers.But the Trump administration has defended the policy as a means of reducing visa overstays.“The visa bond program has already proven effective at drastically reducing the number of visa recipients who overstay their visas and illegally remain in the United States,” the State Department wrote in a news release on Wednesday.It explained that an estimated 1,000 visas have been issued under the bond programme, and that 97 percent of the recipients left the US within the timeframe of their visa.The bonds are applied to B-1 and B-2 visas, granted for business visitors and tourists, respectively.The costs are set according to three tiers: $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000. “The amount is determined at the time of the visa interview,” the State Department says on its website.Paying the bond does not guarantee a visa will be granted. The bond is ultimately refunded if the visa application is rejected, if entry into the US does not occur, or if the recipient adheres to the terms of the visa. Advertisement The new countries added to the list are Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and Tunisia.The bonds for visa applicants from those countries will be enforced starting on April 2. In Wednesday’s news release, the State Department hinted it reserves the right to further expand the programme in the future.“The Department may continue to place Visa Bonds on cou …
