The United States Department of State has announced that tourists from Malawi and Zambia will be subject to bonds of up to $15,000 should they visit the country on tourist visas. The idea, announced earlier this week, is to impose bonds on countries whose citizens have high rates of overstaying their US visas. Tourists from those countries would have to pay an amount ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 at the time of their visa interview to enter the US.
The bond requirement is slated to take effect for Malawi and Zambia starting on August 20. “This targeted, common-sense measure reinforces the administration’s commitment to US immigration law while deterring visa overstays,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on Tuesday. US President Donald Trump has taken a hardline approach to immigration since his return to office in January for a second term.
The bonds are part of a pilot programme announced on Monday, slated to last 12 months. The programme aims to deter visa overstays and ensure that tourists comply with the terms of their admission. According to the Department of Homeland Security, there were 565,155 visa overstays for fiscal year 2023, amounting to 1.45 percent of the total non-immigrant admissions into the US.
The Department of State has identified Malawi and Zambia as countries with relatively high visa overstay rates, at 14.3 and 11.1 percent, respectively. However, critics have pointed out that the newly imposed bonds put travel to the US further out of reach for residents of poorer countries. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) denounced the new bond scheme as discriminatory, describing it as a “legalised shakedown” that profits from vulnerable, lawful travellers.
Robert McCaw, CAIR’s government affairs director, said, “This is not about national security. It’s about weaponising immigration policy to extort vulnerable visitors, punish disfavored countries, and turn America’s welcome mat into a paywall.” The bond scheme has raised concerns about its impact on tourism and business travel from affected countries.
Citizens of countries that are part of the US’s visa waiver programmes are not subject to the visa bonds unveiled this week. The Department of State has stated that the bonds will be refunded if the tourist departs on or before their visa’s expiration, or if the visa is cancelled, if the travel does not occur, or if the tourist is denied entry into the US.