The United States is making its visa bond program permanent. On 31 July 2026, the State Department filed a final rule with the Federal Register that converts last year's 12-month pilot into a standing feature of the B-1/B-2 visitor-visa process. The rule publishes and takes effect on Monday, 3 August 2026, at citation 91 FR 48757. Consular officers may require applicants from a designated list of countries, currently around 50, most of them in Africa, to post a refundable bond of up to $20,000 before a business or tourist visa is issued. The rule also raises the cost: the pilot's $5,000 minimum tier is gone, and bonds are now set at $10,000 or $20,000. For anyone from a listed country planning a US trip, whether a holiday, a business visit, or an exploratory trip ahead of a longer-term move, the practical price of a US visa application has changed.
Background
The bond authority itself is old: section 221(g)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act has long allowed consular officers to require a bond to ensure a visitor departs on time. It sat largely unused until August 2025, when the State Department launched a Visa Bond Pilot Program under a temporary final rule, citing Executive Order 14159 and entry-exit data showing hundreds of thousands of visitors overstaying each year. The pilot started small but grew substantially as countries were added through 2025 and 2026. The Department's own review, described in the new rule, concluded the pilot "provided sufficient data" to show bonds effectively enforce compliance with visa conditions, and on that basis it is now permanent.
What exactly changed
Three things. First, permanence: the program no longer has an expiry date, and countries already subject to bonds under the pilot carry over automatically when the rule takes effect. Second, the amounts: consular officers set bonds at $10,000 or $20,000, replacing the pilot's $5,000/$10,000/$15,000 structure, with $20,000 as the new ceiling. Third, the list mechanics are now codified: the State Department designates countries based on high overstay rates, weak information-sharing or identity-verification practices, and concerns about the security of travel and civil documents, including citizenship-by-investment practices. The list is announced on travel.state.gov rather than in the rule itself; additions take effect no sooner than 15 days after announcement, while removals are effective immediately. The bond is refunded when the application is denied or, if the visa is granted, when the traveller complies with the terms of the stay and departs on time.
Before vs after
- Old: 12-month pilot program, launched 20 August 2025, with bonds of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000
- New: permanent program from 3 August 2026, with bonds of $10,000 or $20,000 at the consular officer's discretion
- Unchanged: applies to B-1/B-2 visitor visas; the bond is refunded on denial or on compliant departure
Who it affects
The numbers from the pilot year show the effect is far broader than the Department first projected. It estimated roughly 2,000 applicants would be asked to post bonds; in practice about 20,000 were. Nearly half of them chose not to pay, walking away from the application, and visa issuance to nationals of listed countries fell 83%. The Associated Press reports the affected countries in 2024 accounted for nearly 45,500 overstays, while bonded travellers in the pilot's first ten months produced fewer than 50. Concretely: a family from a listed country visiting relatives in the US could now need to set aside $10,000 to $20,000 per applicant on top of visa fees, money that is tied up for the full duration of the trip. Someone from a listed country making a look-before-you-move scouting trip faces the same math.
What this means in practice
If you hold a passport from a country that was subject to bonds under the pilot, expect the requirement to continue seamlessly from 3 August. Before booking anything, check the current designation list on travel.state.gov, since it changes on a rolling basis, and factor the bond into your trip budget as a temporary outlay rather than a fee: it comes back if you are refused or if you comply fully with the visa terms. Nothing in the rule changes the underlying B-1/B-2 eligibility standards, and posting a bond does not guarantee issuance. If your longer-term plan is relocation rather than a visit, our United States country guide at /country-guides/united-states covers the main long-stay routes, which are not covered by this rule.
When it takes effect
The final rule publishes in the Federal Register on Monday, 3 August 2026 (91 FR 48757) and is effective the same day. Countries bonded under the pilot remain bonded with no gap.
Key Takeaway
US visitor-visa bonds are now permanent: applicants from roughly 50 listed countries can be required to post $10,000 or $20,000, refundable only on denial or compliant departure.