After a year-long testing period, the U.S. State Department has announced it will make a contentious visa bond pilot program permanent, while also increasing the maximum required payment to $20,000 for eligible applicants. The rule, which affects nationals of 50 countries, the majority of which are located across Africa, is set to officially take effect Monday, when the formal notice is published in the Federal Register. Officials have also left open the possibility of adding more nations to the affected list in the future.
First unveiled by the Trump administration in August 2023, the program was designed to crack down on visa overstays, a key part of the administration’s broader goal of reducing illegal immigration to the United States. The policy applies specifically to applicants seeking B1 business visas and B2 tourist visas, requiring them to post a cash bond before their consular interview. Bonds are fully refunded if an application is rejected, or if the traveler abides by the terms of their visa and departs the U.S. before their authorization expires.
When the pilot launched, the bond structure had three tiers: $5,000, $10,000, and a maximum of $15,000, with consular officers holding the authority to set the required amount on a case-by-case basis. Under the new permanent rule, the $5,000 minimum tier is eliminated, and the ceiling is raised by $5,000 to a new maximum of $20,000.
A draft of the rule, published Friday in the Federal Register ahead of its official release, notes that a 12-month review of the pilot collected sufficient evidence to conclude the program effectively pushes visitors to comply with visa conditions. State Department officials have gone a step further, publicly framing the initiative as a remarkable success.
Official data shows that in 2024, roughly 45,500 travelers from the 50 affected countries overstayed their visas. By comparison, in the first 10 months of the pilot program, fewer than 50 overstays were recorded among visitors from those nations who entered under the new requirements. The U.S. government currently estimates that the average cost of arresting and deporting a single visa overstayer is approximately $18,000, a cost the program aims to offset and reduce.
Unexpected shifts in application numbers have also emerged since the pilot launched. Initially, State Department projections estimated that only around 2,000 applicants per year would fall under the bond requirement. In practice, roughly 20,000 applicants have been required to post a bond, 10 times the initial estimate.
Nearly half of all affected applicants have opted to abandon their applications rather than pay the required bond. Data shows an 83% overall drop in the number of B1 and B2 visas issued to nationals of the countries on the affected list. In its formal notice, the State Department said it expects the permanent rule will continue to drive down the volume of B1/B2 visa applications from participating countries, advancing the program’s core goals.