The United States Department of State has issued a temporary final rule that creates a pilot program that will impose a bond requirement on certain B-1/B-2 nonimmigrant visitor visa applicants. This pilot program will begin on August 20, 2025, and will be in effect until August 5, 2026. Under the pilot program, certain applicants for B-1/B-2 visas will be required to pay a $10,000 bond (which can be reduced to $5,000 or increased to $15,000 on a case-by-case basis) before a visa may be issued. As noted below, only citizens of Malawi and Zambia are currently subject to the bond requirement, although citizens of other countries may become subject to this in the future.
The bond amount paid by the visa applicant will be returned to the applicant if it is determined that he/she complied with the terms of admission to the United States and either left the country before the end of the period of admission or timely filed an application for an extension of stay or a change of status. A refund will also be issued if the visa holder does not travel to the United States before the expiration of the visa or if he/she is denied admission at a United States port of entry.
The Department of State will forward cases in which a visa holder appears to not have complied with the terms of the visa bond to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for a breach determination. Such cases will include, but not be limited to, situations where (1) the visa holder departs from the United States after the date until which he/she was authorized to remain in the United States; (2) the visa holder remains in the United States after the date until which he or she was authorized to remain, and does not depart; (3) the visa holder applies to “adjust out of” nonimmigrant status, including claiming asylum. It is not clear at the moment what is meant by “adjust out of.” It is likely that this encompasses only applications for permanent residence and not for changes to another nonimmigrant status.
B-1/B-2 visa applicants who are subject to the bond requirement will pay their bonds online on Form I-352, using the Department of Treasury online payment portal, www.pay.gov. The bond must be paid within 30 days of the visa interview.
B-1/B-2 visas issued under the pilot program will be valid for three months and will allow only a single entry to the United States. It is anticipated that United States Customs and Border Protection will admit holders of these visas for no more than thirty days.
The pilot bond program applies only to citizens of countries that have been identified by the State Department as (1) having high overstay rates; (2) being deficient in vetting and screening of its citizens in issuing passports and other documents; or (3) offering citizenship by investment with no residency requirement.
At the moment, only persons applying for B-1/B-1 visas with a passport from Malawi or Zambia are subject to the bond requirement. These persons are also required to enter the United States through the Boston Logan (BOS), John F. Kennedy (JFK), or Washington Dulles (IAD) international airports. The State Department reserves the right to add to the list of affected countries, but it will provide at least fifteen days’ notice before making additions.
The bond pilot program will not affect the full and partial travel bans that are already in effect for nationals of nineteen countries and which we reported on in our Alert of June 5, 2025.
