State Department Expands Countries Listed Under Visa Bond List

The U.S. Department of State added twelve additional countries to the list of nations whose travelers are required to pay bonds before entering the U.S.

Effective on April 2, B-1/B-2 visa holders from the following nations must submit either a $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 deposit:

• Cambodia
• Ethiopia
• Georgia
• Grenada
• Lesotho
• Mauritius
• Mongolia
• Mozambique
• Nicaragua
• Papua New Guinea
• Seychelles
• Tunisia

These countries also remain affected by the State Department’s bond program:

• Algeria
• Angola
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Bangladesh
• Benin
• Bhutan
• Botswana
• Burundi
• Cabo Verde
• Central African Republic
• Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
• Cuba
• Djibouti
• Dominica
• Fiji
• Gabon
• Guinea
• Guinea Bissau
• Kyrgyzstan
• Malawi
• Mauritania
• Namibia
• Nepal
• Nigeria
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Senegal
• Tajikistan
• Tanzania
• The Gambia
• Togo
• Tonga
• Tuvalu
• Turkmenistan
• Uganda
• Vanuatu
• Venezuela
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

In addition, the federal government has expanded the list of designated entry points that affected tourists can fly in from. These individuals can now enter through any authorized commercial airport, including CBP preclearance locations. Non-commercial aviation ports of entry, as well as those for land and sea, continue to be invalid points of entry.

The full list can be found in the State Department’s news update.

What this means for affected foreign nationals

Manifest immigration attorney Ana Gabriela Urizar says outside the additions, nothing has changed in regards to the State Department’s visa bond pilot program. “As long as you’re not prevented from traveling due to another underlying government policy, you may still be able to travel to the U.S. with an approved B-1/B-2 visa,” she says.

As of now, nineteen of the fifty countries listed under the visa bond program are unable to request a tourist visa due to the expanded travel ban. Urizar notes that there is also some overlap with nations that saw their temporary protected status (TPS) designation challenged by the Department of Homeland Security.

She explains: “Individuals with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) should be aware that ongoing litigation and federal court decisions may directly impact both the validity of their status and associated employment authorization. Given the fluid nature of these proceedings, it is critical for TPS beneficiaries to closely monitor legal updates and consult with qualified counsel to understand how changes may affect their individual circumstances.”