The State Department finalized a travel visa bond plan on Friday that requires some tourists and business visitors from selected countries to post bonds of $10,000, $15,000, or $20,000. The money is paid back when a B1 or B2 visa expires, but some of those visas can run for 10 years.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said some visa holders would not get their money back for a decade. For readers trying to gauge the practical cost, that means the highest bond can sit tied up longer than the trip itself by years, not months.
State Department bond levels
The finalized plan turns a pilot program introduced last year into a standing requirement for some visitors from a select list of countries. The pilot affected 50 countries, and the new plan keeps the same three bond levels rather than assigning one flat amount to every applicant.
Most of the affected visas last about three months, which would keep the bond locked up only briefly for many travelers. But some of the affected visas are for 10 years, so the repayment timing changes sharply depending on which visa duration an applicant receives under B1 or B2.
World Cup ticket holders
During the World Cup this summer, the Trump administration suspended the bonds for anyone who had a ticket to one of the games. Many fans still were unable to attend during the World Cup, and the relatives of some of the players were unable to attend because of a separate travel ban and other visa restrictions.
That leaves a direct question for travelers now facing the finalized plan: which countries and visa applicants will face the highest bond amounts. The State Department has not laid out the full assignment rules in the available plan, so the policy change is clear, but the line between $10,000, $15,000, and $20,000 still matters most to the visitors who will have to post the money before they can travel.
Tourism and visa policy
The broader policy backdrop is already costly. Trump administration immigration and visa policies have cost the country billions of dollars in tourism, pushed up prices of goods and services for Americans, and helped drive weaker international student enrollment and lower revenue for universities and colleges.
For tourists and business visitors, the immediate change is straightforward: the bond is no longer a temporary experiment. Anyone covered by the plan now faces a cash hold that can last until the visa expires, which makes the size of the bond and the visa length the two numbers that will shape the trip long after the application is filed.
