The United States is preparing to make its visa bond programme permanent, allowing consular officers to require certain business and tourist visa applicants from 50 countries to post a bond of up to US$20,000 as a condition of receiving a visa.
The final rule, scheduled to take effect on August 3, covers B-1 business visas and B-2 tourist visas. Thirty of the countries included in the programme are in Africa. US officials maintain that the requirement will help reduce the number of visitors who remain in the country after their authorised period of stay expires.
The 50 countries are Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, The Gambia, Georgia, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.