US rolls out permanent visa bond programme for 50 countries:Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh included; does India feature?

The US State Department has permanently adopted its visa bond programme following a year-long pilot, allowing consular officers to require certain foreign nationals applying for business and tourist visas to post a bond of up to $20,000 before a visa is issued. The programme will come into effect on August 3, when the final rule is published in the Federal Register. The policy currently applies to citizens of 50 countries, including Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, but India has not been included. The State Department said the pilot programme generated sufficient evidence to show that visa bonds are an effective tool for improving compliance with US immigration rules. Officials also indicated that additional countries could be added to the programme in the future. Who will be affected? The visa bond requirement applies to applicants seeking B-1 (business) and B-2 (tourist) nonimmigrant visas. According to the Federal Register notice, consular officers may require eligible applicants to post a bond of up to $20,000 as a condition for visa issuance. The notice states: “Consular officers may require covered nonimmigrant visa applicants to post a bond of up to $20,000 as a condition of visa issuance, as determined by the consular officers.” The State Department further said the year-long pilot programme, conducted in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of the Treasury, demonstrated that visa bonds helped improve compliance among travellers covered under the programme. It added that the pilot provided “sufficient data to suggest that a visa bond programme is an effective tool for enforcing compliance among bonded visa holders.” Bond amount increased under final rule During the pilot phase, consular officers could require visa applicants to post bonds of $5,000, $10,000 or up to $15,000. Under the final rule, the $5,000 bond option has been removed, while the maximum bond amount has been increased to $20,000. The revised programme is scheduled to take effect on August 3. Which countries are covered? The programme currently applies to nationals from 50 countries across Africa, Asia, North America, the Caribbean, Oceania and Latin America. Asia The Asian countries included in the programme are: Bangladesh Bhutan Cambodia Georgia Kyrgyz Republic Mongolia Nepal Tajikistan Turkmenistan Notably, India is not among the countries covered under the current policy. Africa Thirty African countries have been included in the programme, including Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. North America and the Caribbean The programme also applies to nationals from: Antigua and Barbuda Cuba Dominica Grenada Oceania Countries covered include: Fiji Papua New Guinea Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu Latin America The two Latin American countries included are: Nicaragua Venezuela Why has the US made the programme permanent? According to the State Department, the visa bond programme is intended to reduce the number of foreign nationals who overstay their visas after entering the United States. Officials said the results of the pilot programme showed that requiring certain applicants to post a refundable financial bond encouraged greater compliance with visa conditions. The government also noted that the list of countries is not fixed and may be expanded in the future if deemed necessary. Criticism of the programme The decision has drawn criticism from immigration advocates, who argue that requiring applicants to deposit thousands of dollars before obtaining a visa could discourage legitimate business and tourist travel to the United States. Rights groups have also criticised President Donald Trump’s broader immigration policies, saying they undermine free speech and due process, create an unsafe environment for ethnic minorities and encourage racial profiling. The Trump administration has defended the measures, saying stricter immigration enforcement policies, including the visa bond programme, are necessary to strengthen national security and ensure compliance with US immigration laws. ​