Business Immigration Insights

In our article, Citizens of Almost 40 Countries Must Pay $5,000-15,000 Bond for U.S. Visitor Visas Under Pilot Program, we reported in detail on the State Department’s visa bond pilot program.

The program began with only 2 countries (Malawi and Zambia) in August 2025; added 4 more countries (The Gambia, Mauritania, Sao Tome and Principe, and Tanzania) in October 2025; and, by the time we wrote, in February 2026, had added 32 more.

The State Department has just announced an additional 12 countries (Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, and Tunisia) will be added as of April 1, 2026.  The full list now numbers 50 nations, approximately 25 percent of the 195 countries recognized by the State Department.

As we noted in February, citizens of these countries will be subject to cash bonds of $5,000 to $15,000 when they apply at any U.S. consulate for B-1/B-2 visas, and those visas will be valid for only three months and a single entry to the United States, with a maximum stay of 30 days.

Although people who already hold valid B-1/B-2 visas are not supposed to be subject to the terms of the pilot program and do not have to pay bonds, some travelers from these countries are discovering that their stays in the United States are being curtailed to 30 or 60 days when they would normally be admitted for 180 days as B-2 tourists.

The program is slated to end on August 5, 2026, but could be renewed or made permanent.