A new temporary immigration rule could require Nationals of 24 countries to pay up to $15,000 in bonds.
The outgoing President of the United States, Donald Trump, has on Monday, November 23, 20202, issued a new temporary rule that requires tourist and business travellers from selected countries to pay a bond of up to $15,000 before visiting the United States.
The visa bond rule, which takes effect Dec. 24 and runs through June 24, will allow U.S. consular officers to require tourist and business travellers from countries whose nationals had an “overstay rate” of 10% or higher in 2019 to pay a refundable bond of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000.
The affected countries, which includes 15 from Africa are Afghanistan, Angola, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa), Djibouti, Eritrea, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Laos, Liberia, Libya, Mauritania, Papua New Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
The Trump administration said the six-month pilot program aims to test the feasibility of collecting such bonds and will serve as a diplomatic deterrence to overstaying the visas.
Joe Biden’s transition team is yet to comment on the visa bond requirement.
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