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Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that the United States will require visa applicants from a group of additional countries to post bonds of up to $15,000 before entering the country.
Rubio said the policy is intended to address concerns about visa compliance and ensure that visitors follow U.S. immigration laws.
“Our visa system – who you allow to visit your country should reflect the national interest! We said that from the very beginning,” Rubio stated.
“The law gives us the RIGHT, and in fact I would argue the obligation, to remove people like that from our country. And we’re going to continue to do it. I mean, it’s as simple as that!” he added.
The bond requirement will take effect on April 2 and will apply to visa applicants from Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and Tunisia, according to the State Department.
“The visa bond program has already proven effective at drastically reducing the number of visa recipients who overstay their visas and illegally remain in the United States,” the department said, noting that nearly 97 percent of those who have posted bond have not overstayed their visa.
With the addition of those countries, applicants from 50 nations will now be subject to the visa bond requirement. The list currently includes several countries across Africa, South Asia, the Caribbean and Central Asia.
U.S. officials have said the bonds are intended to encourage compliance with visa terms, including ensuring that travelers leave the country when their visas expire.
The State Department previously added seven countries in January, including five nations from Africa.
In addition, on Jan. 1, the department “suspended visa issuance to nationals of 19 countries – Afghanistan, Burma, Burkina Faso, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen – and to individuals traveling on any travel documents issued or endorsed by the Palestinian Authority, for all nonimmigrant and immigrant visa categories with limited exceptions.”