US Govt imposes $15,000 Visa bond for visitors from 15 African countries

The President Donald Trump administration introduced the visa bond pilot programme on Monday for B-1 visas (for business travellers) and B-2 visas (for tourists) and it is expected to run for six months — December 24 to June 24, 2021.

The United States has imposed a new $15,000 Visa bond for visitors from 15 African countries, according to a new temporary travel rule which comes into effect on 24 December.

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President-elect Joe Biden, a Democrat, has pledged to reverse many of the Republican president’s immigration policies, but untangling hundreds of changes could take months or years.

The visa bond rule targets countries whose nationals had an “overstay rate” of 10% or higher in 2019 and will now be required to pay a refundable bond of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000.

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While those nations had higher rates of overstays, they sent relatively few travellers to the US.

The African countries affected are;

Angola, Burkina Faso, Chad, DRC, Djibouti, Eritrea, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Libya, Mauritania, Sudan, Sao Tome and Principe, Cape Verde, Burundi.