$15,000 visa bond requirement for citizens of 12 more countries

Abu Sabet: The U.S. State Department on Wednesday expanded its list of countries whose citizens will be required to post bonds of up to $15,000 to apply for U.S. business or tourist visas.

The department added 12 nations to the growing list Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and Tunisia. Starting April 2, passport holders from these countries must pay a bond of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000, which is refunded if the visa application is denied or, if granted, the traveler complies with the terms of the B1 or B2 visa. The cost of the bond depends on the applicant's circumstances and is determined at the discretion of a consular officer during the visa interview.

The requirement was first rolled out by the Trump administration last year, as part of an effort to crack down on visa overstays and illegal immigration, according to officials. With the latest additions, citizens from 50 countries will be subject to the bond requirement beginning April 2, although the policy has already been in effect for most of them.

The majority of the countries are in Africa, which officials say have higher visa overstay rates, though the list also includes nations in Asia, Latin America and elsewhere. "The visa bond program has already proven effective at drastically reducing the number of visa recipients who overstay their visas and illegally remain in the United States," the department said in a statement.

Nearly 97% of the roughly 1,000 individuals who posted bonds complied with visa terms and did not overstay, according to the department.

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