US requires Zambia, Malawi citizens to pay up to $15,000 bond for visitor visas

6/8/2025 6:17

President Donald Trump's administration will require visa applicants from Zambia and Malawi to pay bonds up to $15,000 for some tourist and business

visas under a pilot program launching in two weeks, the State Department said on Tuesday.



"Starting August 20, 2025, any citizen or national traveling on a passport issued by one of these countries who is found otherwise eligible for a B1/B2 visa must post a bond in amounts of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000, determined at time of visa interview," the State Department said in a notice on its website.



A notice about the program, which gives U.S. consular officers worldwide the discretion to impose bonds on visitors from countries with high rates of visa overstays, appeared on the Federal Register on Monday but no country names had been mentioned.



A State Department spokesperson on Monday said countries would be identified based on "high overstay rates, screening and vetting deficiencies, concerns regarding acquisition of citizenship by investment without a residency requirement, and foreign policy considerations."