The outgoing administration of US President Donald Trump has issued a new temporary rule that could require tourist and business travelers from two dozen countries – most in Africa – to pay a bond of as much as US$15,000 to visit the United States.
The US State Department on Monday said the temporary final rule, which takes effect December 24 and runs through June 24, targets countries whose nationals have higher rates of overstaying B-2 visas for tourists and B-1 visas for business travelers.
According to the document, countries whose tourist and business travelers could be subject to the bond requirement include those from Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Mauritania, Eritrea and Sudan. Other countries include Angola, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, as well as Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Laos, Liberia, Myanmar (Burma), Papua New Guinea, and Sao Tome and Principe.
The Trump administration said the six-month pilot programme aims to test the feasibility of collecting such bonds and will serve as a diplomatic deterrence to overstaying the visas.
“The Pilot Program is designed to apply to nationals of specified countries with high overstay rates to serve as a diplomatic tool to encourage foreign governments to take all appropriate actions to ensure their nationals timely depart the United States after making temporary visits,” according to the State Department document.
As a department of state memo says, through the policy, “the US Government sends a message to all countries that high overstay rates may result in measures that negatively affect broad categories of their nationals, thereby encouraging countries to take action to encourage their nationals to comply with US immigration law.”
But the move is also more likely to be seen as yet another anti-immigration policy by the Trump administration, which disproportionately affects African countries. In September, a proposed change by the US Department of Homeland Security moved to limit visa terms to two years for some international students with Africa accounting for 36 of the 59 countries affected.