The $15,000 visa bond rule is a U.S. pilot program requiring B-1/B-2 tourist/business visa applicants from specific countries (with high overstay rates) to pay a refundable bond of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 as a condition for visa issuance, designed to ensure visitors leave the U.S. on time by creating a financial incentive, with the funds returned if they comply with their visa terms. This temporary measure, expanded recently to include more nations, aims to reduce overstays and spur foreign governments to improve their vetting processes.
Countries Subject to Visa Bonds
Effective January 21, 2026, immigrant visas will not be issued to applicants who are nationals of the following countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape ...
Anyone who meets the requirements of the Visa Waiver Program won't need to pay the new integrity fee. This means travelers on a B visa who will be in the U.S. less than 90 days and are from certain countries in the program—Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, for example—might not need to pay the new fee.
Foreign travelers from seven additional countries are now required to pay up to $15,000 for a reimbursable bond when applying for a U.S. visitor visa, as the Trump administration continues to tighten entry requirements to the country.
So if the judge at bond court set bond at "$15,000 D", the "D" is the letter code that tells you you have to post 10 percent of that amount in order to get out of jail. So $1,500.00.
“Ninety-nine per cent of Canadian citizens are visa exempt. … Those individuals will not have to pay the new visa integrity fee, unless they are investors or fiancés of U.S. citizens.”
Covered visa applicants will be required to post a bond of up to $15,000 as a condition of visa issuance, with the exact amount of the bond based upon the applicant's circumstances as determined by the consular officer but in an amount of no less than $5,000, unless the bond requirement is waived.
That means their citizens will not have to pay the $250 fee if visiting the US for up to 90 days on visa-free tourism or business. The exempt countries include: Andorra. Australia.
Among the top 10 countries facing the highest Schengen visa rejection rates illustrated in Table 1, six are in Africa. Comoros leads with a 61.3% rejection rate, followed by Guinea-Bissau at 51%, Ghana at 47.5%, Mali at 46.1%, Sudan at 42.3%, and Senegal at 41.2%.
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Singaporeans enjoy visa-free access to 192 of the 227 countries and territories tracked by the index, which was created by the London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners, and uses exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association.
A Temporary Final Rule (TFR) was published by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) on August 5, 2025, establishing the DOS Visa Bond Pilot Program (VBPP). The VBPP will proceed for 12 months and will require the nationals of certain countries applying for B-1/B-2 nonimmigrant visas to post a visa bond.
12 Schengen Countries with Easy Visa Approval
Some 40 percent of undocumented migrants are overstayers. As part of its crackdown on immigration, the US State Department has announced that it will start requiring travellers from certain countries to pay bonds of up to $15,000 to enter the United States.
Canada does not set any fixed minimum bank balance for a visitor visa. Instead, visa officers look for enough money to cover: Round-trip flights. Hotel or accommodation.
For six countries—Burundi, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Togo, and Turkmenistan—high overstay rates is the only reason provided for a total or partial visa ban. The White House cites the overstay rates—that is, the percentage of visa holders who overstayed their visas —using 2023 data from the DHS.
It applies to nearly all nonimmigrant visas, including B-1/B-2 (tourist/business), F-1 (student), and most employment-based categories (including H-1B, L-1, O-1, and TN). Importantly, travelers from Visa Waiver Program countries — who use the ESTA system instead of applying for a visa — are exempt from this fee.
Information for Canadians
Canadian citizens generally do not require a visa to enter the United States directly from Canada for the purposes of visiting or studying.
$10,000 surety bonds typically cost 0.5–10% of the bond amount, or $50–$300. Highly qualified applicants with strong credit might pay just $50 to $100, while an individual with poor credit will receive a higher rate.
You typically pay 10% of bail when using a bail bond company because it's their non-refundable service fee (premium) for guaranteeing the full bail amount to the court, making release affordable by acting as a fraction of the total cost, with the bondsman covering the rest and taking the risk if you skip court, often using collateral to cover losses. This 10% fee isn't a deposit; it's what pays the bondsman for their service, allowing you to get out of jail without paying the entire large sum upfront.
Ten percent of a $500,000 bond is $50,000. This means that if a judge sets bail at $500,000 and you hire a bondsman, you would typically pay $50,000 as the non-refundable premium.