US to pilot $15,000 visa deposit scheme
The US is launching a pilot program that will require foreign nationals from certain countries to pay up to $15,000 for a tourist or business visa, according to a notice posted in the Federal Register on Tuesday.
US President Donald Trump has made illegal immigration a central focus of his presidency, vowing to deport millions of undocumented migrants. His administration has expanded border security, tripled Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention funding, cut humanitarian programs, and detained thousands of illegal migrants.
In June, Trump also fully or partially barred entry for citizens of 19 nations on security grounds and imposed a mandatory “integrity fee” on all nonimmigrant visa applicants.
Under the new program, which begins August 20, US consular officers may require visa bonds of $5,000 to $15,000 from certain travelers. Running for a year, the program applies to B-1 and B-2 travelers from countries with high visa overstay rates, limited vetting data, or citizenship-by-investment programs without residency requirements.
Bond amounts will be based on applicants’ ‘personal circumstances’, including travel purpose, employment, income, skills, and education.
The list of targeted countries is expected to be released later on Tuesday. The State Department said it could not precisely estimate how many applicants will be affected, but expects around 2,000 to post bonds during the trial period.
Many countries from Trump’s earlier travel ban have high overstay rates, including Chad, Eritrea, Haiti, Myanmar, and Yemen. A US Customs and Border Protection report published last year recorded more than 500,000 ‘Suspected In-Country Overstays’ in 2023. Mexico led with 49,000 overstays, followed by Colombia with 41,000, and Brazil, Haiti, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic with more than 20,000 each.
Analysts have warned that Trump’s immigration crackdown could damage the economy. Moody’s chief analyst Mark Zandi said on Sunday that the country is “on the precipice” of a recession partly due to Trump’s immigration policies, cautioning that “fewer immigrant workers means a smaller economy.”
The Economic Policy Institute estimated that his mass deportation plans could eliminate nearly 6 million jobs, disrupt business operations, and cut demand for both immigrant and US-born labor.
