The United States State Department is expanding its visa bond program to cover 50 countries beginning April 2, requiring nationals from those nations to post a $15,000 bond before obtaining B1 or B2 visas for business or tourism travel to the United States. According to Antigua News Room, the bond is fully refundable to visa holders who return home in compliance with their visa terms, or who choose not to travel.
Antigua and Barbuda is among the 38 nations already included in the program prior to this latest expansion. The State Department says the initiative serves two primary purposes: reducing illegal visa overstays and saving American taxpayer money.
Officials state the visa bond program has already proven effective at drastically reducing the number of visa recipients who overstay and illegally remain in the United States. The expanded program is projected to save American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Twelve new countries will join the program on April 2: Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, and Tunisia.
They join the existing 38 nations subject to the bond requirement. Those countries are Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Fiji, Gabon, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Mauritania, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
