United States: State Department Makes Permanent B-1/B-2 Visa Bond Program for Certain Countries and Increases Bond Amounts

As under the pilot program, the countries whose nationals will be subject to the B-1/B-2 visa bond requirement will continue to be posted on the Department of State website at travel.state.gov. Currently, there are 50 countries designated under the visa bond program, many of which are African nations. The State Department will continue to revise this list on a rolling basis and provide at least 15 days’ notice before adding countries to the list. Any country’s removal from the list, however, will take effect immediately.

Nationals of several of the visa bond countries are banned from receiving B-1/B-2 visas in general, pursuant to President Trump’s nationality-based travel ban. In these cases, the visa bond program would apply only to those found to be exempt from the nationality-based travel ban.

B visa applicants who are subject to the bond requirement start the visa process in the same way as other nonimmigrant visa applicants, by scheduling an appointment at a U.S. consulate abroad and paying the standard machine-readable visa fees.

During the consular interview, if a consular officer determines that the applicant otherwise qualifies for the B visa, the officer will inform the applicant of the bond requirement and notify the applicant whether they must post a $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000 bond. According to the State Department, consular officers will be expected to set bond at $15,000, but will have the discretion to require a $10,000 or $20,000 bond if they deem it appropriate after taking into consideration an applicant’s circumstances.

The foreign national’s visa application will be temporarily refused, and they will be directed to the bond payment procedure online via Form I-352 and the Department of Treasury online payment portal, www.pay.gov. As under the pilot program, the bond can be paid by the applicant or on the applicant’s behalf by a third party.

Once the bond is posted, the consular officer will do a final review to confirm the applicant’s eligibility for the visa. If approved, the visa can be issued for a single entry or multiple entries to the United States with a three-to-twelve-month validity, depending on the visa reciprocity rules for the applicant’s country of nationality, among other relevant factors. The visa will contain an annotation indicating that a visa bond has been posted for this foreign national.

There will be no procedure for a visa applicant to request a waiver of the visa bond requirement but the State Department may grant a waiver if it is determined that a waiver would advance a significant national or humanitarian interest based on the applicant's purpose of travel and employment, as described in their visa application and interview.

As a condition of the bond, visa holders are required to enter and depart the United States through a commercial airport or CBP preclearance location. Compliance with this requirement is crucial in order to show adherence to the bond terms and conditions.

Foreign nationals admitted under the visa bond program must:

• Comply with all conditions of their status in the United States, including not accepting unauthorized employment; and
• Depart the United States before the expiration of their authorized stay, or timely file a request for an extension or change of nonimmigrant status with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

If a foreign national’s timely filed extension of stay or change of nonimmigrant status request is denied by USCIS, the foreign national must depart the United States within 10 days of the denial in order to comply with bond terms.

Further, the bond conditions do not end after an extension or change of status has been approved. Foreign nationals must abide by all of the terms and conditions of their extended or new status and depart the United States before the expiration of their new authorized stay, in order to obtain repayment of their B visa bond payment.

Upon compliance with the terms of a bond, the bond will generally be cancelled automatically following a foreign national’s timely departure from the United States. When the bond is cancelled, the full amount is refunded and the foreign national is provided a notice of immigration bond cancellation. There is no accrued interest on bonds that are cancelled under the program.

The State Department’s commentary to the final rule says that USCIS may consider the existence of a visa bond as a negative discretionary factor when adjudicating a foreign national’s request for an extension of stay or change of nonimmigrant status within the United States. The State Department does not review extension of stay or change of status requests; however, foreign nationals submitting these filings to USCIS may wish to include evidence of positive discretionary factors to counterbalance this potential, perceived negative factor.

A visa bond will be considered breached and payment forfeited where it is determined that a foreign national has substantially violated any of the bond terms and conditions, including:

• Remaining in the United States after the expiration of their period of admission;
• Filing an untimely request for extension of stay or change of nonimmigrant status in the United States (Under the pilot program, if an untimely request was later excused by DHS, a bond breach would not have occurred; the permanent program appears to remove that exception);
• Failing to depart the United States within 10 days of a denial of a timely and properly filed request for extension of stay or change of status; or
• Filing for asylum or any other form of humanitarian protection on Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal.

If the State Department makes a preliminary finding that a visa holder has not complied with the terms and conditions of their bond, the agency will forward the case to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); DHS makes the final decision on whether a bond was breached. If DHS finds a substantial violation of the terms and conditions of the bond, the bond payment will be forfeited and retained by the government. The foreign national will be notified of the decision and of the right to administratively appeal.

In implementing the visa bond pilot program in August 2025, the State Department estimated that visa bonds would be required for 2,000 visa applicants during the one-year pilot. The State Department now reports that approximately 20,000 visa applications were determined to require a visa bond payment during the pilot program, and close to half of those applications resulted in bond payment.

The agency also reports that during the first 10 months of the pilot program, B visa issuance rates for the pilot program countries declined by 83% as compared to the prior year.