Visas: Visa Bond Program
This rule finalizes the temporary final rule that went into effect on August 20, 2025, which launched a 12-month long Visa Bond Pilot Program (Pilot Program), and establishes a permanent visa bond program. An alien applying for a visa as a temporary visitor for business or pleasure (B-1/B-2) may be required to submit a bond ("visa bond") to ensure that the alien maintains his or her nonimmigrant status and departs as required. Consular officers may require covered nonimmigrant visa applicants to post a bond of up to $20,000 as a condition of visa issuance, as determined by the consular officers.
What this means
- This rule has been in effect since 2026-08-03. (effectiveAt)
- The document names B-1/B-2 visitor. It may identify others — read the original to be sure. (impact.stated (partial))
- The document states a requirement for the people it covers. The exact wording is quoted above — whether it applies to any particular person depends on facts this platform does not have. (impact.actionRequired)
Derived from this event’s own recorded fields — not written by a model, and not an interpretation of anyone’s case.
Who is affected
This document sets the rule but leaves the specific list of who it covers to a separate government determination. The list is not in this document, so we do not show one here — check the issuing agency's own published list. “…Under the Program, as discussed further below, visa bonds may be required from certain business/pleasure (B-1/B-2) visa applicants who are nationals of countries with high overstay rates, deficient information sharing, insufficient identity verification and criminal records, and that need improvement in the area of screening and vetting and the security of travel…”
What the document says may be required
The document states a requirement for those it covers. The exact obligation, and whether it applies to a particular person, depends on the document's own terms — the relevant passage is quoted below.
“An alien applying for a visa as a temporary visitor for business or pleasure (B-1/B-2) may be required to submit a bond ("visa bond") to ensure that the alien maintains his or her nonimmigrant status and departs as required.”
This list may be incomplete — the document may identify others. Read the original. Assembled from the source document, not from anyone's individual circumstances. Whether a change applies to a specific person depends on facts this platform does not have. This is data context, not legal advice.