The Trump administration has introduced measures to restrict both legal and illegal immigration to the United States.
Published March 18, 2026
The U.S. State Department has added 12 countries to a list that requires visa applicants to post bail of up to $15,000 to enter the United States.
Wednesday’s list expansion is the latest measure under President Donald Trump to restrict entry into the United States from primarily non-Western countries.
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The 12 additional countries bring the total number of countries subject to restrictions to 50. Most of them are African countries, and critics say their high national debts discriminate against low-income tourists.
But the Trump administration has defended the policy as a way to reduce visa overstays.
“The Visa Bond Program has already proven effective in significantly reducing the number of visa recipients who overstay their visas and are illegally present in the United States,” the State Department said in a news release Wednesday.
An estimated 1,000 visas were issued under the bond program, and 97% of recipients left the United States within the time limit of their visas.
The bond applies to B-1 and B-2 visas granted to business visitors and tourists, respectively.
Costs are set in three tiers: $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000. “The amount will be determined at the time of the visa interview,” the State Department says on its website.
Paying the deposit does not mean that a visa will be issued. The deposit will ultimately be refunded if the visa application is denied, if you do not enter the United States, or if the recipient complies with the terms of the visa.
The new countries added to the list are Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and Tunisia.
The security deposit for visa applicants from these countries will come into effect from April 2nd. In a news release Wednesday, the State Department indicated it reserves the right to further expand the program in the future.
“The Department may continue to issue visa bonds to countries based on a variety of immigration risk factors.”
Since returning to the White House in January 2025, President Trump has increasingly stepped up efforts to restrict legal and illegal immigration, especially from poor and non-Western countries.
The bond program was first introduced last August, and the Trump administration described it as a tool to raise government revenue and increase screening of short-term travelers.
President Trump had previously sought to introduce a similar program in 2020, the last full year of his first term. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic that year, this program could not be implemented.
But in his second term, Republican leaders have redoubled their efforts to restrict immigration.
In addition to bonding requirements for certain countries, the Trump administration suspended immigrant visa processing from 75 countries in January, a move that is being challenged in court.
It has also pursued an aggressive campaign of mass deportations, claiming to have deported 675,000 people in January.
Alongside these efforts, Trump officials have sought to roll back legal immigration programs such as Temporary Protected Status and Humanitarian Parole. It also suspended most asylum applications and introduced the lowest refugee admission cap in U.S. history.
The Trump administration says Africana people are subject to persecution and will prioritize white South Africans in accepting refugees.
A series of restrictive policies have affected tourism and raised questions about access to the World Cup, which is co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
