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Washington, D.C. – August 5, 2025 — The U.S. State Department announced on Monday that a new measure will soon require certain visa applicants to pay a bond of up to $15,000. This initiative is part of the Trump administration's broader push to curb visa overstays and tighten migration controls.
Set to launch later this month, the 12-month pilot program will compel applicants from specific countries to post a minimum of $5,000 as collateral for their visa. This sum will be returned to the visa holder upon their timely departure from the United States. Conversely, the funds will be forfeited if they remain in the country past their authorized deadline.
"Consular officers may require covered nonimmigrant visa applicants to post a bond of up to $15,000 as a condition of visa issuance," the agency stated in a notice scheduled for publication on Tuesday in the US Federal Register.
The program, which will take effect on August 20, is designed to impact foreign nationals from nations "identified by the Department as having high visa overstay rates," according to a 2023 Department of Homeland Security report. The notice did not disclose which countries would be affected. The program will apply to B-1 (business) and B-2 (tourism) nonimmigrant visas. Additionally, those required to pay the bond will be restricted to entering and exiting the United States through a predetermined list of airports.
Since his return to the White House in January, President Donald Trump and his administration have intensified their crackdown on migration to the United States. The State Department's notice justifies the pilot program as a "key pillar of the Trump Administration’s foreign policy to protect the United States from the clear national security threat posed by visa overstays."
