US could require up to $15,000 bonds for some tourist, business visas

• New visa programme to launch on August 20.
• Consular officers granted discretion to impose visa bonds.
• Pilot programme to run for one year, aims to tighten screening.
  

The US could require up to $15,000 bonds for some tourist and business visas under a new pilot programme launching in two weeks, a US government notice said on Monday, an effort that aims to crack down on visitors who overstay their visas.

The programme gives US consular officers the discretion to impose bonds on visitors from countries with high rates of visa overstays, according to a Federal Register notice. The bonds also could be applied to people coming from countries where screening and vetting information is deemed insufficient, the notice said.

US President Donald Trump has made cracking down on illegal immigration a central focus of his presidency, surging resources to secure the border and arresting people in the US illegally.

The Republican president issued a travel ban in June that blocks citizens of 12 nations from entering the US on national security grounds.

The new visa programme, effective August 20, will last for approximately a year, the government notice said.

The US government launched a similar pilot programme in November 2020 during the last months of Trump’s first term in office, but it was not fully implemented due to the drop in global travel associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the notice said.