B Mirror Report: The United States has announced a new visa bond requirement for travelers from 38 countries, including Bangladesh, under a pilot program aimed at curbing visa overstays. Under the measure, eligible visitors may be required to deposit a bond of up to $15,000 (around Tk 18.35 lakh) before entering the country.
The US State Department said the program, adopted in mid-2025 as part of former President Donald Trump’s stricter anti-immigration policies, applies to holders of B-1 (business) and B-2 (tourist) visas. Bangladesh was added to the list on Tuesday, less than a week after seven other countries were included. Earlier, six countries had already been brought under the scheme.
The 12-month pilot program officially began on August 20. Visa bond requirements for newly added countries are set to take effect from January 21, with a few exceptions, according to the State Department.
In an interim final rule published in the US Federal Register on August 5, the State Department said the program targets countries whose citizens have historically recorded high rates of visa overstays. “Since 2000, many foreign nationals have entered the United States with visas but no information is available about their departure,” the department noted. “This demonstrates that thousands of nonimmigrant visitors each year do not depart the country within the time limits set for their visas.”
Data from the US Department of Homeland Security underscores the concern. In a report to Congress, the department said that about 39 million visa holders were scheduled to leave the United States in fiscal year 2023. However, roughly 400,000 individuals remained in the country after their visas expired.
Immigration research organizations have also highlighted the scale of the issue. The Migration Policy Institute reported that a significant portion of immigrants in the United States originally entered legally but overstayed their visas, contributing to the rise in undocumented immigration.
Historical data supports this trend. In 2002, the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) reported that around 41 percent of undocumented immigrants had overstayed their visas. A follow-up analysis in 2003 found that 33 percent of illegal immigrants had overstayed in 2000.
More recent figures from the Center for Migration Studies show that about 42 percent of undocumented immigrants in the United States had overstayed their visas in 2014, a rate the institute said remained largely unchanged in 2024.
US officials say the visa bond program is intended to encourage compliance with visa rules and ensure that visitors depart the country on time.
