Business travelers and tourists from Malawi and Zambia will face visa bonds as high as $15,000 designed to reduce unauthorized overstays in the US, the State Department announced.
Travelers from those countries seeking B-1 business visitor or B-2 tourist visas in the US will have to pay the bonds as a condition of receiving a visa starting Aug. 20. The bond amount will be refunded when the visa holder leaves the US on time.
State published regulations Tuesday establishing a 12-month pilot program that framed the requirement as a measure to address national security threats. It revived a regulatory proposal from President Donald Trump’s first term that was never carried out.
Consular officers can require bond amounts of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 for visa applicants. They’ll be required to enter and leave the US through three designated airports: Boston Logan International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, or John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
Malawi and Zambia had overstay rates of 14.32% and 10.45%, respectively for B-1 and B-2 visas, according to a 2023 Department of Homeland Security report. State issued just over 4,000 of the temporary visitor visas to travelers from the two countries last fiscal year.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said there’s no evidence adding visa bonds for those countries will address security concerns.
“This move reinforces our concern that the program is not about national security, but about targeting poorer, majority-Black nations with a discriminatory wealth test,” said Robert S. McCaw, the group’s government affairs director, said in a statement. “This is yet another layer in the administration’s broader pattern of anti-immigrant policies, following its deeply troubling Muslim and African travel bans.”
A State Department spokesperson said countries are selected for the program based on overstay rates, vetting deficiencies, citizenship by investment options, and foreign policy considerations. The agency may update the list of countries subject to bonds throughout the pilot, the spokesperson said.
(Updated with additional comment from the State Department. )
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