Chicago – August 04, 2025
The U.S. State Department is proposing a new rule that would require people applying for business or tourist visas to pay a bond of up to $15,000. This rule could make it harder for some people to afford a visa.
The proposal will be part of a 12-month pilot program that targets people from countries with high rates of people overstaying their visas or having weak document security systems. These applicants could be asked to pay bonds of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 when applying for a visa.
This is part of a series of changes by the Trump administration to make it more difficult for people to get visas. Just last week, the State Department said that many people renewing their visas would have to go to an in-person interview, which was not required before. They also proposed that applicants for the Diversity Visa Lottery program must have valid passports from their home countries.
According to a preview posted online, the pilot program would begin within 15 days of its official announcement. The program is meant to protect the U.S. government from financial responsibility if someone does not follow the rules of their visa. The notice explains that the new rules would apply to people from certain countries with high visa overstays, poor security checks, or citizenship programs that don’t require residency.
Once the program starts, the U.S. will list the countries affected by the rule. However, the bond may be waived based on the individual applicant’s situation.
Citizens from countries that participate in the Visa Waiver Program, which allows travel to the U.S. for up to 90 days without a visa, will not be affected by this new rule. Most of the 42 countries in this program are in Europe, but there are also countries from Asia, the Middle East, and other areas.
