US pilots collection of up to $15,000 deposit for tourist visas

The White House announced that it will pilot a program to collect up to $15,000 in bail for visa applicants from countries with high rates of visa violations.

People lined up to apply for US visas outside the US Embassy in Columbia in May - Photo: AFP

According to Reuters, the White House has just announced a pilot program to collect deposits for certain types of tourist or official visas from countries with high rates of visa term violations.

According to a notice in the Federal Register, the program allows U.S. consular officers to exercise discretion in collecting deposits from travelers from the above countries, or countries where screening and verification information is deemed inadequate.

Consular officers will have three deposit options: $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000. The $10,000 deposit is considered the most common expectation in most cases. This deposit will be refunded to the traveler if they depart the United States according to the terms of their visa.

The new visa pilot program will take effect on August 20 and last for about a year. A State Department spokesman said the list of countries affected by the pilot program will be updated over time.

The official also confirmed that the criteria used to determine which countries were affected included: high rates of visa violations, frequent shortcomings in screening and verification, and foreign policy considerations.

The US Travel Association, which represents major travel-related companies, estimates that "the scope of the visa pilot program appears limited, with only about 2,000 applicants affected, mostly from a small number of countries with relatively low tourism to the US."

The move is part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to tighten control over illegal immigration. In recent days, Trump has increased resources to protect the border and arrest those who are in the US illegally.

In June, he also issued an order banning all or part of entry into the US for national security reasons.

Notably, a similar pilot program was launched in November 2020 during the final months of Trump's first term, but was not fully implemented due to a sharp drop in global travel related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/my-thi-diem-thu-toi-da-15-000-usd-tien-dat-coc-cho-visa-du-lich-20250805084114859.htm