Trump Adds 13 African Countries to US Visa Bond List

The Donald Trump Administration has added Nigeria, Senegal and 11 other African countries to a list of nations whose citizens may be required to pay visa bonds of up to $15,000 to enter the United States.

The decision was announced by the US State Department and will take effect on January 21, according to a notice posted on the travel.state.gov website.

According to the State Department, applicants must accept the bond’s terms via Pay.gov, the U.S. Treasury Department’s online payment system.

The move is part of a wider expansion of the visa bond policy, which now covers 38 countries worldwide. Most of the affected countries are in Africa, but others are in Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia.

The African countries newly added include Nigeria, Senegal, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Djibouti, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Outside Africa, the newly added countries include Bangladesh, Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Cuba, Venezuela, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

They join countries already on the visa bond list, such as Bhutan, Botswana, the Central African Republic, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mauritania, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, Tanzania, Turkmenistan and Zambia.

Under the policy, visa applicants from the affected countries may be asked to pay bonds ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 before travelling to the United States. US officials say the bonds are meant to discourage people from overstaying their visas.

Payment of the bond does not guarantee that a visa will be approved. The money will be refunded if the visa is denied or if the traveller shows they followed all visa rules.

The visa bond rule is part of broader efforts by the Trump administration to tighten US entry requirements. Other measures include in-person visa interviews for applicants and requests for detailed social media, travel and residence histories.