State Department may require visa applicants to post bond of up to $15,000 to enter the US
Washington – The State Department proposes to oblige candidates for commercial and tourist visas to display a deposit of up to $ 15,000 to enter the United States, a decision that could make the process unaffordable for many.
In an opinion that will be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, the ministry said that it would start a 12 -month pilot program under which people from the countries deemed have been highly surpassing and internal security controls of internal documents to apply to $ 5,000, $ 10,000 or $ 15,000 obligations when they ask for a visa.
The proposal occurs while the Trump administration tightens the requirements for visa candidates. Last week, the State Department announced that many candidates for the renewal of visas should submit to an additional interview in person, which was not necessary in the past. In addition, the ministry proposes that candidates for the visa diversity lottery program have valid passports from their country of citizenship.
An overview of the surety notice, which was published on the Federal Register website on Monday, said the pilot program would take effect within 15 days of its official publication and is necessary to ensure that the US government is not financially responsible if a visitor does not comply with the terms of his visa.
“The extraterrestrials apply for visas as temporary visitors for business or pleasure and who are nationals of countries identified by the ministry as having high visa levels, where screening and verification information is deemed to be deficient in account, or providing citizenship by investment, if the notification has obtained citizenship without residence requirement, The opinion.
The affected countries will be listed once the program has taken effect, he said. The deposit could be canceled according to the individual circumstances of a applicant.
The surety would not apply to citizens of the countries registered in the Visa derogation program, which allows you to travel for business or tourism up to 90 days. The majority of the 42 countries registered on the program are in Europe, with others in Asia, in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Visa obligations have been proposed in the past but have not been implemented. The State Department has traditionally discouraged the requirement due to the heavy process of publication and discharge of a link and a possible erroneous perception of the public.
However, the ministry said that the previous point of view “is not supported by any recent copies or proof, as visa obligations were generally not required during a recent period.”
