What is US Visa Bond Pilot Program? Countries List? India in it?

In July 2025, President Trump signed a bill that included a Visa Integrity Fee provision that increases the US Visa fee for every non-immigrant visa holder applying for a US visa by $250.

Today, August 5th, 2025, the U.S. Department of State published a temporary final rule to implement a Visa Bond Pilot Program that may require certain non-immigrant visa applicants to post a bond of up to $15,000.

In this article, we will look at the complete details of the US Visa Bond Pilot Program, how it would work, what the Visa Bond Countries are, whether India is in it, and other information.

Background: Visa Bond Pilot Program for US Visa

When President Trump took office in January 2025, he signed Executive Order 14159, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.” It included many provisions related to enforcing tighter immigration and border protection controls in place to protect the American People. Visa Bonds was also part of the same. See the screenshot below taken directly from the Executive Order 14159.

Also, the Visa Bonds Pilot Program was one of the priorities of the Trump Administration during their first term. In fact, they put up a temporary final rule last time, back in 2020, outlining similar terms to study the feasibility of issuance of visa bonds and test the system for the same. See the screenshot below of the Visas: Visa Bond Pilot Program from the Year 2020

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and limited travel, they did not carry out the Visa Bond pilot program. Now, the Trump administration is bringing back one of its old priorities to test out the whole system for implementing a visa bond for certain U.S. visas.

Also, as per the DHS FY 2023 Overstay Report, they estimate that over 500,000 visitors were potentially overstaying beyond their authorized stay. The Trump administration also want to get data if having a Visa Bonds would prevent someone from overstaying.

What is the Visa Bond Pilot Program?

As per the Immigration and Nationality Act(INA) 8 U.S.C. 1201(g)(3), the US Visa Officer has the authority to issue a “Maintenance of Status and Departure Bond”, commonly called a “Visa Bond,” for a Business Visitor/ Tourist (B1/B2 Visa). The goal of the visa bond is to ensure that the traveler maintains proper status in the US and departs America on time.

Purpose of the Visa Bond Pilot Program: The primary purpose of this Visa Bond Pilot Program is to test out the operational feasibility of implementing a system for the visa bonds for Business Visitors/Tourists, who enter on B1, B2, or B1/B2 Visas. Based on the data, they also want to evaluate whether implementing such visa bonds will reduce the overstays.

Under the Visa Bond pilot program, US Consular Officers (Visa Officers) at US Consulates or US Embassies will issue visa bonds to certain applicants from certain countries when they are approved for a B1, B2, or B1/B2 Visa. Depending on their discretion, they may issue visa bonds up to $15,000.

How will the Visa Bond Pilot Program Work? Amount, Duration?

As per the Visa Bond Pilot Program, the US Department of State will focus on specific countries that fall under any of the following three conditions:

• Countries that have very high visa overstay rates for B1/B2 visas
• Countries where the screening and vetting information is considered deficient.
• Countries that offer Citizenship by Investment(CBI), and where the applicant has obtained citizenship without any residency requirement.

Amount of the Visa Bond: $5000 to $15,000

As per the pilot program conditions, the U.S. Consular officer at a U.S. Consulate or U.S. Embassy can require the applicant to pay for a bond of up to $15,000 to get a U.S. visa issued for them.

The Consular Officer has the discretion to decide the Visa Bond amount during the visa issuance based on the applicant’s circumstances and background.

The minimum amount of the Visa Bond is $5000. It is up to the Consular Officer to decide to ask the applicant to pay a larger amount for the visa bond. For the pilot program, the bond values allowed by Consular Officers are $5000, $1000, or $15000.

Duration of the Visa Bond Pilot Program: 12 months

The Visa Bond Pilot Program will run for 12 months starting from today, August 5th, 2025. Below are the actual dates of the program:

• Start Date: August 20th, 2025
• End Date: August 5th, 2026

Arrival & Departure at selected Airports

As part of the Visa Bond pilot program, the travelers on B1/B2 visas with a Visa Bond are required to enter and depart the US by Air (flights) at one of the airports that are pre-selected for this pilot program.

Below is the list of Airports for the pilot program :

• Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
• John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
• Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)

You can check the complete list of all the US Port of Entry locations with their Codes.

How will the Visa Bond Program Operate?

Below are the high-level steps on how the Visa Bond Pilot Program will operate:

• Step 1 – Apply for a US Visa: All applicants from the list of countries part of the visa bond pilot program will apply for a B1/B2 visa normally as they would and follow standard procedures as on Travel.State.Gov.
• Step 2 – Visa Bond Pilot Program Scope: During the visa interview, the US Consular Officer will decide whether the applicant is eligible for a visa and fits within the scope of the visa pilot program. The visa issued to
• Step 3 – Visa Bond Conditions, Payment: The Consular Officer will inform the applicant that they are eligible for visa issuance and must pay the required amount of either $5000, $10000, or $15000 to get the visa issued; if not, they will deny the visa. If the applicant agrees, they need to fill out the Form I-352 and make the corresponding visa bond payment at Pay.gov within 30 days. The issued visa will have an annotation that will alert the CBP officer regarding the visa bond requirement
• Step 4 – Entry to US, Exit, 30 days: When the traveler, who is part of the visa bond pilot program, enters the US, the CBP Officer will look at the annotation and only issue a period of admission of 30 days. The travelers have to exit the country within 30 days.
• Step 5 – Bond Amount Return: If the traveler with the visa bond departs the US within 30 days and does not violate any rules of the visa, the visa bond amount will be refunded. The applicant has the choice to get the refund if they don’t plan to travel to the US or if they want to get a refund before the expiration of the Visa by making manual requests to the consulate. They would need to provide details like boarding passes, entry and departure stamps, bank statements, etc. as proof for manual requests

Visa Bond Countries List: How was it determined?

The US Department of State will review the DHS FY 2023 Overstay Report to determine the list of countries that have high visa overstays.

As per the US Department of State, below are the countries that are part of the Visa Bond Program

• Malawi
• Zambia

As per the DHS FY 2023 Overstay Report, the suspected overstay rates for the above countries are

• Malawi – 14.14% overstay rate
• Zambia – 10.45% overstay rate

Below is the screenshot of the press release by the US Department of State

Is India part of the Visa Bond Pilot Program?

No, India is not part of the Visa Bond Pilot Program. As per the US Visa overstay report by the DHS, India had about a 3.83% suspected overstay rate. As the overstay rate is far below the average, India was not selected for it.

Impact – How many part of the Visa Bond Pilot Program?

As per the US Department of State assessment, they expect to issue visa bonds for about 2000 applicants as part of the pilot program.

Visa Bond Refund Conditions

The applicant would get the full visa bond amount as per the following conditions:

• The Visa holder complies with all the rules related to the B1/B2 visa during their stay in the US.
• The B1/ B2 visa holder with a Visa bond departs the US within the duration of their authorized stay. Usually, this is 30 days for the pilot program, but it can be less as well.
• The Visa holder with the visa bond does not travel to the US before their issued visa expires
• If the visa holder is denied admission at the US port of entry.
• The Visa holder does not do an adjustment of status(AOS) out of their non-immigrant status or claim asylum.

Reference: Official Regulation Details of the Visa Bond Pilot Program

• Regulation Title: “Visas: Visa Bond Pilot Program”
• Regulation Official Link: FederalRegister.gov Visa Bond Pilot Program

What do you think of the US Visa Bond Pilot program? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.