Starting Aug. 3, 2026, the State Department will permanently establish and expand a B-1/B-2 visa bond program that has been operating on a pilot basis since August 2025, raising the bond amounts that certain visitor visa applicants must pay as a condition of visa issuance.
Under a final rule slated for publication Monday in the Federal Register, B-1/B-2 business and tourist visa applicants from designated countries will be required to post a bond of $10,000, $15,000, or $20,000 to obtain a visa—up from the pilot program’s levels of $5,000, $10,000, and $15,000. Consular officers will generally be expected to set the bond at $15,000, but they may require $10,000 or $20,000 after considering the applicant’s purpose of travel, employment, income, and other circumstances.
The bond program currently covers nationals of 50 countries, including Nepal, whose citizens apply for B-1/B-2 visas. The State Department will continue to post covered countries on Travel.State.Gov and update the list on a rolling basis, providing at least 15 days’ notice before adding countries, while removals will take effect immediately. For countries that are also subject to President Trump’s nationality-based travel ban, the bond requirement will apply only to applicants who qualify for an exemption.
According to the department, data from the one-year pilot show that visa bonds are an effective tool for enforcing compliance among bonded travelers. The program is also intended as a diplomatic lever for governments that the U.S. considers to have high overstay rates, weak information sharing, insufficient identity verification and criminal-record data, or deficiencies in screening and document security.
Applicants subject to the bond requirement begin the visa process in the same way as other nonimmigrant applicants: by scheduling a consular appointment and paying standard visa fees. If a consular officer finds the applicant otherwise eligible and from a designated country, the officer will temporarily refuse the visa under section 221(g) and direct the applicant to post the required bond electronically via DHS Form I-352 and the Treasury payment portal at Pay.gov. The bond may be paid by either the applicant or a third party.
Once the bond is posted and the payment settles, the officer will conduct a final review of eligibility. If approved, the visa may be issued for single or multiple entries with a validity period of 3 to 12 months, depending on reciprocity, and will be annotated to show that a bond has been posted. There is no procedure for applicants to request a bond waiver, though the Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs may grant waivers on national interest or humanitarian grounds based on the applicant’s purpose of travel and employment.
Visa holders under bond must enter and depart the United States through a commercial airport or a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) preclearance location in order to meet bond conditions. To obtain a refund, they must comply with all terms of their status—including refraining from unauthorized employment—and either depart before the end of their authorized stay or timely file an extension-of-stay or change-of-status request with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
If a timely extension or change-of-status request is denied, the foreign national must depart within 10 days of the denial. Bond obligations continue after any extension or change of status is approved; the traveler must comply with all conditions of the new status and depart before the new authorized stay expires to receive repayment of the bond.
When DHS systems confirm that a bonded visa holder complied with status conditions and either did not travel or departed on time through a commercial airport, the bond is generally canceled automatically. The full bond amount is then refunded to the payor, without interest, and the foreign national receives an immigration bond cancellation notice.
The final rule notes that USCIS may consider the existence of a visa bond as a negative discretionary factor when adjudicating extensions of stay or changes of status, even though USCIS does not set the bond. A bond will be deemed breached—and the payment forfeited—if the foreign national substantially violates bond terms, including overstaying, filing an untimely extension or change-of-status request, failing to depart within 10 days of a denial of a timely filing, or filing for asylum or other humanitarian protection on Form I-589.
If the State Department makes a preliminary finding of noncompliance, the case is referred to the Department of Homeland Security, which makes the final breach determination and notifies the foreign national of any forfeiture and appeal rights.
In implementing the pilot in August 2025, the State Department initially projected that 2,000 applicants would be subject to bonds over one year, but ultimately about 20,000 visa applications were found to require a bond. Nearly half of those resulted in bond payment, and B-visa issuance for nationals of pilot countries declined by 83% in the first 10 months of the program compared with the prior year, as some applicants chose not to pay the bond.
Kishor Panthi
View More PostsKishor Panthi is the founder and editor-in-chief of Khasokhas and NepYork. He is the author of three books, “Kampan,” "UNTRANSLATABLE" and “Zero Mile.” He writes about social issues, immigration, and politics.
