The USA is launching a pilot program that would require some inbound vacationers to pay bonds of as much as $15,000 to enter.
The 12-month program is aimed, partly, at guests from international locations with traditionally excessive visa overstay charges, in line with an unpublished temporary final rule posted within the Federal Register on Tuesday.
It is the controversy transfer by the Trump administration to tighten immigration legal guidelines within the U.S., following a travel ban on nationals from 12 countries in June and a $250 “visa integrity fee” announcement in July.
This is what we all know concerning the bond program, based mostly on the Federal Register discover:
Who should pay?
This system applies to leisure and enterprise vacationers who want B-1 or B-2 visas to enter the U.S., and who’re coming from international locations:
- which have excessive visa overstay charges,
- the place screening and vetting data is deemed inadequate, or
- that supply Citizenship by Funding with no residency requirement.
Which international locations are these?
The U.S. Division of State is about to announce the record of nations as early as right this moment.
Overstay charges will likely be based mostly on the Division of Homeland Safety’s 2023 Entry/Exit Overstay Report. This report, revealed on Aug. 5, 2024, exhibits international locations with excessive overstay charges embrace Chad (50%), Laos (35%) and Haiti (31%).
Nonetheless, international locations with probably the most complete overstays, by quantity, are Mexico (roughly 49,000), Brazil (21,000), Colombia (41,000), Haiti (27,000), Venezuela (22,000) and Dominican Republic (20,000).
How many individuals should pay?
Not many.
The Division of State stated it expects round 2,000 folks will publish visa bonds throughout the pilot program, given the variety of people who find themselves certified to acquire U.S. visas and “uncertainty” surrounding the quantity of people that pays it.
How a lot are the bonds?
There are three ranges of bonds: $5,000, $10,000 and $15,000.
Bond quantities are on the discretion of consular officers, topic to pointers. The quantities will likely be based mostly on vacationers’ “private circumstances,” together with their cause for touring, employment, revenue, abilities and training.
Vacationers who’re required to pay a visa bond should enter and depart the U.S. by means of particular ports of entry, which will likely be introduced at a later date.
Why a pilot program as a substitute of a blanket rule?
The aim of the 12-month pilot is at the least two-fold, in line with the U.S. State Division.
It’s primarily aimed toward accessing the feasibility of processing and discharging bonds, which the federal government has beforehand deemed to be “cumbersome.” However it is going to additionally assist confirm whether or not bonds compel guests to adjust to their visa phrases.
The federal government’s discover, nonetheless, additionally states that the pilot program is a “instrument of diplomacy” supposed to spur international governments to cut back overstay charges of their nationals and enhance their journey screening and vetting processes.
Notably, the pilot program provides more details than the blanket $250 “visa integrity fee” introduced in July, together with when it is going to begin, how will probably be carried out, and processes to publish and refund bonds quantities.
What number of U.S. guests overstay their visa phrases?
Only one%-2% of nonimmigrant guests overstayed their visas every year from 2016 to 2022, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service.
Nonetheless, 42% of the estimated 11 million individuals who reside within the U.S. with out authorization entered on legitimate visas, however then by no means left, knowledge exhibits.
In 2019, the Division of Homeland Safety estimated that greater than 320,000 folks overstayed their visas, although this contains vacationers who ultimately left the nation, in line with the State Division’s visa bond discover.
— CNBC’s Kaela Ling contributed to this story.