Tourists from Malawi and Zambia will be the first foreign nationals required to pay visa bonds of up to $15,000 before entering the United States, Al Jazeera reported citing the State Department.
Starting August 20, travellers from the two African nations applying for tourist or business visas will be required to pay a refundable bond ranging from $5,000 to $15,000.
The new policy, part of a 12-month pilot programme, is aimed at deterring visa overstays and enforcing immigration laws more strictly.
The money will be returned if the visitor leaves the US on time, or if the visa is cancelled, unused, or the entry is denied. However, if the visitor overstays their visa or applies for asylum or other immigration programmes while in the country, the federal government will retain the funds.
The move is based on visa overstay data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) which reveal that there were as many as 565,155 visa overstays in Fiscal Year 2023 — 1.45% of the total non-immigrant admissions into the US
Both Malawi and Zambia reflected high rate of visa overstays of 14.3% and 11.1%, respectively, though the actual number of overstays was relatively small.
Just 237 of the 1,655 Malawian visitors, and 388 of the 3,493 Zambian visitors overstayed in US.
By contrast, tens of thousands overstayed from countries like Brazil and Colombia, which are not yet affected by the policy — where an estimated 20,811 Brazilians stayed in US longer than their tourist or business visa. Meanwhile, 40,884 Colombians also overstayed their visa.
Despite the policy’s stated purpose of strengthening immigration control, critics have condemned the measure as unjust and discriminatory.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) described the bond system as a “legalised shakedown”.
“This is not about national security [….] It’s about weaponising immigration policy to extort vulnerable visitors, punish disfavoured countries, and turn America’s welcome mat into a paywall,” said CAIR’ Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw.
Apart from Malawi and Zambia, more countries are likely to be added to the list.
