US to Launch Visa Bond Pilot, Could Require Up to $15,000 from Some Travelers

Some tourists and business visitors to the US could soon be asked to post bonds of up to $15,000 as part of a new pilot program the State Department is rolling out in two weeks — a move aimed at deterring visa overstays.

The 12-month program, starting August 20, targets B-1 (business) and B-2 (tourism) visa applicants from countries with high overstay rates, although the government hasn’t named which ones. A similar initiative was floated under former President Donald Trump in 2020, but it fizzled out due to the pandemic halting global travel.

According to the State Department, this updated version could bring in around $20 million over a year. But the goal, officials say, isn’t revenue — it’s to pressure foreign governments to step up screening and make sure their citizens don’t remain in the US beyond what’s allowed.

“The Pilot Program is further designed to serve as a diplomatic tool,” the department said in its announcement, encouraging countries to improve vetting and identity verification.

The program is a revival of an idea that’s long been considered too complicated. Historically, the State Department has avoided imposing visa bonds because processing them is considered “cumbersome.”

Still, the numbers have officials looking for new ways to curb overstays. In 2023, there were an estimated 500,000 suspected visa overstays in the US. And with former President Trump once again turning up the heat on immigration, policies like this are being dusted off.

During his time in office, Trump made a crackdown on both legal and undocumented immigration central to his agenda — increasing border security, arresting tens of thousands of migrants, and pushing measures like this one. His administration pitched the visa bond plan as a deterrent to “bad actors.”

But critics argue that the policy could unfairly penalize law-abiding travelers and is based more on political posturing than facts. Multiple studies — including one by Oxford Economics and another presented to Congress — show that immigrants, both documented and undocumented, commit crimes at significantly lower rates than US-born citizens.

Despite this, immigration remains one of the hottest issues in US politics, with visa policies likely to be a major talking point heading into the 2026 elections.