U.S. Makes Visa Bond Program Permanent: What Visitor Visa Applicants Need to Know

By Fadi Minawi, U.S. Immigration Attorney and Co-Founder of ImmiPrep.ai

Fadi Minawi is a U.S. Immigration Attorney and co-founder of ImmiPrep.ai, the bilingual AI-powered mock interview platform he built alongside Allen Schwartz, a former U.S. Immigration Officer, to help B-1/B-2 visa applicants prepare for their consular interviews.

Reviewed for accuracy against official U.S. Department of State and Federal Register sources. Last updated August 4, 2026.

On August 3, 2026, the U.S. Department of State published a final rule in the Federal Register establishing a permanent Visa Bond Program for certain B-1/B-2 visitor visa applicants (U.S. Department of State, Final Rule, 91 FR 48757, Aug. 3, 2026). The rule ends the one-year pilot phase that began in August 2025 and locks in a system under which consular officers can require applicants from designated countries to post a cash bond of $10,000, $15,000, or $20,000 as a condition of visa issuance (91 FR 48757 at Section IV). If you are applying for a B-1 business visa, a B-2 tourist visa, or a combined B-1/B-2 visa and you are a national of one of the affected countries, this is what the new rule means for your application, your travel plans, and your money.

Key Takeaways

• The Visa Bond Program is now permanent, effective August 3, 2026, under a final rule published at 91 FR 48757 (U.S. Department of State).

• Consular officers may require a bond of $10,000, $15,000, or $20,000 depending on an applicant’s individual circumstances, up from the pilot program’s $5,000, $10,000, and $15,000 tiers (91 FR 48757, Section IV.E).

• The program applies only to B-1/B-2 visitor visa applicants from countries the State Department designates on travel.state.gov, currently 50 countries (91 FR 48757, Section III.C).

• During the pilot, overstays among bonded travelers from those 50 countries fell from 45,488 in FY 2024 to fewer than 50 in the program’s first 10 months (DHS FY 2024 Entry/Exit Overstay Report; 91 FR 48757, Section III.C.2).

• Bonded travelers must enter and depart the United States through a commercial airport or CBP Preclearance location; land and sea ports of entry do not satisfy the bond conditions.

• There is no formal waiver application process, but the Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs may waive the requirement in limited national interest or humanitarian cases (22 CFR 41.11(c)(3)).

What Is the Visa Bond Program?

The Visa Bond Program is authorized under Section 221(g)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) (8 U.S.C. 1201(g)(3)), which allows a consular officer to require an otherwise eligible B-1/B-2 applicant to post a bond when the officer is not fully assured the applicant will maintain status and depart on time. The State Department first tested this authority through a 12 month Visa Bond Pilot Program that took effect August 20, 2025, under a temporary final rule (U.S. Department of State, 90 FR 37378, Aug. 5, 2025). The rule published August 3, 2026, at 91 FR 48757, finalizes that framework, amends 22 CFR 41.11(c), and makes the bond requirement a standing feature of the B-1/B-2 visa process rather than a temporary test.

New Permanent Bond Amounts: $10,000, $15,000, and $20,000

Under the permanent rule, a covered applicant may be required to post a bond of $10,000, $15,000, or $20,000, an increase from the pilot program’s $5,000, $10,000, and $15,000 levels(91 FR 48757, Section IV). Consular officers are expected to default to a $15,000 bond, lower it to $10,000 if the applicant appears unable to pay the higher amount while still having sufficient funds to cover the trip, and raise it to $20,000 if the applicant’s ties and circumstances suggest a $15,000 bond would not be enough to guarantee timely departure (91 FR 48757, Section IV.E). The Department set these tiers after consulting with the Departments of Homeland Security and the Treasury and pegged them against the government’s average cost of removing an overstaying alien, calculated by DHS at approximately $18,042 per case (DHS Immigration Enforcement Lifecycle cost estimate, FY 2024; 91 FR 48757, Section IV.E, n.28).

Bonds must be paid in U.S. dollars through the Visa Bond Program payment platform operated by the Treasury Department. Beginning October 1, 2027, and every seven years after that, the $20,000 maximum will be adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers and rounded up to the nearest $1,000 (91 FR 48757, Section IV).

Who Is Affected: Covered Countries and Eligibility Criteria

The program applies only to B-1/B-2 applicants who are nationals of countries the State Department designates based on high visa overstay rates, weak information sharing, insufficient identity verification and criminal record sharing, and deficiencies in travel or civil document security (22 CFR 41.11(c)(2)). Visa Waiver Program (VWP) member countries are excluded by design: to qualify for VWP, a country must keep its nonimmigrant visa refusal rate under 3 percent, and DHS data show VWP nationals overstay at a rate of roughly 0.44 percent, compared with 2.06 percent for non-VWP travelers (DHS FY 2019 Entry/Exit Overstay Report; 91 FR 48757, Section III.A). As of the pilot’s conclusion, 50 countries were covered, many of them in Africa. The State Department publishes and updates the list of designated countries on travel.state.gov, with at least 15 days’ notice before adding a country and immediate effect when a country is removed.

How Consular Officers Determine Your Bond Amount

During your visa interview, the consular officer first determines whether you are otherwise eligible for the visa. If you are and you are a national of a designated country, the officer will inform you of the bond requirement and the required amount, then deny the visa under INA Section 221(g) pending payment (91 FR 48757, Section V.B). That denial is not final. Once the bond is posted through the Treasury payment platform and DHS Form I-352B is submitted, the officer can approve issuance if you remain otherwise eligible. The officer weighs your stated purpose of travel, employment, income, education, and ties to the United States and your home country in setting the bond level (22 CFR 41.11(c)(2)).

How to Pay the Visa Bond

Approved applicants receive a link to the Visa Bond Program payment platform, where payment can be made by domestic or international wire, ACH, digital wallet, or card, depending on what is available in the applicant’s country (91 FR 48757, Section IV.B). Payment must be made electronically and in full, and the applicant is responsible for any currency conversion or card processing fees. DHS estimates the average applicant spends about two hours completing the bond form and payment process, at an estimated cost of $49.02 in time based on median U.S. hourly wage data (91 FR 48757, Section VI). Once funds settle, which can take several business days, the State Department and DHS are notified and the visa can be issued.

Travel Requirements and Conditions for Bond Compliance

A visa bond is not simply a fee. It comes with binding travel conditions. Bonded travelers must enter and depart the United States through a commercial airport of entry or a CBP Preclearance location; using a land border crossing or seaport breaks compliance with the bond (22 CFR 41.11(c)(4)(i)). Visas issued under the program are annotated so that CBP officers at the port of entry know a bond is in place, and they will generally admit the traveler for the standard B-1/B-2 period. Depending on visa reciprocity, the visa itself is issued as a single entry valid for three months, a multiple entry valid for three months, or a multiple entry valid for up to 12 months (91 FR 48757, Section V.D).

When Your Bond Is Refunded

The full bond amount is returned to the person or entity who posted it, with no interest, once DHS confirms compliance (8 CFR 103.6(c)(3)). Refund triggers include the visa expiring without the holder ever traveling, timely departure through a commercial airport before or upon visa expiration, CBP finding the traveler inadmissible and cancelling the visa at the port of entry, and timely departure following an approved extension of stay or change of status (91 FR 48757, Section V.E). Funds are returned to the original payment method, and the traveler receives an Immigration Bond Cancelation Notice confirming compliance. A traveler who never used the visa can also request manual cancellation by returning to a consular section abroad.

When Your Bond Is Forfeited

The bond is forfeited in full if the traveler substantially violates its terms. Under the final rule, a breach occurs if the traveler remains in the United States past the authorized period of admission, files an untimely request for a change of status or extension of stay, fails to depart within 10 days after such a request is denied, or files for asylum or other humanitarian protection on Form I-589(22 CFR 41.11(c)(4)(ii)). Filing a timely extension or change of status request is not itself a breach, though USCIS may treat the existence of a bond as a negative discretionary factor when deciding that request. DHS makes the final breach determination, and travelers have appeal rights under 8 CFR 103.3 (91 FR 48757, Section V.H).

Why the Program Was Made Permanent: The Data Behind the Decision

The State Department’s own numbers drove the decision to make the pilot permanent. Across the 50 countries in the pilot, the FY 2024 Entry/Exit Overstay Report recorded 45,488 overstays; in the first 10 months of the bond pilot, that figure fell to fewer than 50 among bonded travelers(DHS FY 2024 Entry/Exit Overstay Report; 91 FR 48757, Section III.C.2). Roughly 20,000 B-1/B-2 applications from pilot countries were determined to require a bond, and close to half of those applicants ultimately paid it and traveled, for a total temporary cost to the public of about $115 million (91 FR 48757, Section VI). Compared with the same 10-month period the year before, visa issuance from pilot countries fell 83 percent, which the Department attributes largely to applicants self-selecting out of the process rather than posting a bond (91 FR 48757, Section III.C.2). Nationally, DHS’s FY 2024 Entry/Exit Overstay Report identified more than 480,000 suspected in-country overstays at the time of publication, later revised down to 427,204as departures and status adjustments were processed (DHS FY 2024 Entry/Exit Overstay Report; 91 FR 48757, Section III.A, n.10).

Professional Insight from Fadi Minawi

Fadi Minawi, U.S. Immigration Attorney and co-founder of ImmiPrep.ai: My read on this rule is straightforward: it rewards preparation and penalizes ambiguity. Consular officers are not selecting bond amounts at random. Under the final rule, they are instructed to weigh exactly what they ask about in every interview, your ties to your home country, your finances, your travel history, and how clearly you can explain your purpose of travel (22 CFR 41.11(c)(2)). Applicants from a designated country who walk into the interview with vague answers about their trip or thin evidence of ties back home are the ones most likely to see the higher $20,000 tier, or to be placed in the program in the first place. The applicants who fare best are the ones who can answer specific questions specifically, with documentation to back it up, and who understand going in that this interview is being scored, not just conversational.

How ImmiPrep.ai Can Help

ImmiPrep.ai is a bilingual, AI-powered mock interview platform, trained by former U.S. Immigration Officers and U.S. Immigration attorneys, that helps B1/B2 U.S. visa applicants practice for their consular interview and receive detailed, personalized feedback, available 24/7. For applicants from a country subject to the Visa Bond Program, that preparation matters even more, since the same interview answers that determine visa eligibility also shape whether a consular officer sets a bond at $10,000, $15,000, or $20,000. Practicing common questions about ties to home country, purpose of travel, and finances in a realistic mock interview, in English or Spanish, can help applicants present their case as clearly and confidently as possible.

Editorial Policy

This article was drafted and fact-checked against the final rule published in the Federal Register, official State Department guidance, and the text of the Immigration and Nationality Act. It reflects the law as of August 4, 2026, and will be updated if the State Department revises the covered country list, bond amounts, or procedures. This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Visa bond determinations are made individually by consular officers, and applicants with questions about their specific case should consult a licensed immigration attorney.