The US State Department has announced the first foreign citizens to be subject to bonds of up to $15,000 should they visit the country on tourist visas.
Zambia and Malawi, both African countries, are the inaugural entries on a list of countries that will be subject to visa bonds.
A notice on the State Department’s website today says, “Starting August 20, 2025, any citizen or national traveling on a passport issued by one of these countries who is found otherwise eligible for a B1/B2 visa must post a bond in amounts of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000, determined at time of visa interview.”
The idea, announced earlier this week, is to impose bonds on countries whose citizens have high rates of overstaying their US visas.
The bond requirement is slated to take effect for those two countries starting on August 20th.
