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WASHINGTON, DC — The US Division of State is proposing requiring candidates for enterprise and vacationer visas to put up a bond of as much as $15,000 (round P862,000) to use to enter the US, a transfer which will make the method unaffordable to many.
In a discover to be revealed within the Federal Register on Tuesday, the division stated it could begin a 12-month pilot program below which individuals from international locations deemed to have excessive overstay charges and poor inside doc safety controls may very well be required to put up bonds of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 after they apply for a visa.
A preview of the discover posted on the Federal Register web site on Monday stated the pilot program would take impact inside 15 days of its formal publication, including it’s needed to make sure the US authorities just isn’t financially liable if a customer doesn’t adjust to the phrases of his or her visa.
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“Aliens making use of for visas as momentary guests for enterprise or pleasure and who’re nationals of nations recognized by the division as having excessive visa overstay charges, the place screening and vetting data is deemed poor, or providing citizenship by funding, if the alien obtained citizenship with no residency requirement, could also be topic to the pilot program,” the discover stated.
The international locations affected could be listed as soon as this system takes impact, it added.
Visa bonds have been proposed prior to now however haven’t been carried out. Historically, the state division has discouraged the requirement due to the cumbersome strategy of posting and discharging a bond and due to potential misperceptions by the general public.
However the bond wouldn’t apply to residents of nations enrolled within the Visa Waiver Program. It is also waived for others relying on an applicant’s particular person circumstances. —AP
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