The Trump administration has significantly broadened a policy requiring certain foreign travellers to pay visa bonds of up to $15,000 before entering the United States. On Tuesday, the State Department announced the addition of 25 countries to the visa bond list, nearly tripling its size after recently adding seven more as part of stricter immigration enforcement measures. In total, 38 countries are now subject to the requirement—primarily in Africa, with others in Latin America and Asia—a move that could place U.S. visas out of reach for many applicants.
The new rule, which includes Venezuela among the latest additions, will take effect on January 21. Under the policy, travellers applying for B1/B2 visas from affected countries must post a bond of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000, with the exact amount determined during their visa interview, according to a State Department notice. Paying the bond will not guarantee a visa’s approval, but the amount will be refunded should the visa be denied or when a visa holder demonstrates compliance with the terms of the visa.
The expansion follows a pilot program launched by the State Department in August that requires certain visa applicants from countries with high overstay rates and deficient document security controls to post a bond. The Trump administration rolled out numerous immigration policy changes last year, impacting the way people travel, obtain visas and become citizens in the United States, with some measures scheduled to take effect in 2026.
The Trump administration requires citizens from all countries that require visas to sit for in-person interviews and disclose years of social media history, along with information about their families’ previous travel and living arrangements. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) implemented a new rule on Dec. 26, 2025, expanding facial recognition for non-citizens entering and leaving the United States.
President Donald Trump also recently announced the launch of the much-anticipated “Trump Gold Card,” an immigration initiative designed to provide a new, streamlined path to U.S. citizenship, which he has said could generate billions of dollars. The new countries added to the visa bond requirement beginning Jan. 21 are Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Benin, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Fiji, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Nigeria, Senegal, Tajikistan, Togo, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
Countries already on the list include Bhutan, Botswana, the Central African Republic, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mauritania, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tanzania, Turkmenistan and Zambia.
Source: www.foxnews.com
