The Department of State has identified nationals from these countries as needing visa bonds.  The implementation dates are in parentheses:

• Algeria (January 21, 2026)
• Angola (January 21, 2026)
• Antigua and Barbuda (January 21, 2026)
• Bangladesh (January 21, 2026)
• Benin (January 21, 2026)
• Bhutan (January 1, 2026)
• Botswana (January 1, 2026)
• Burundi (January 21, 2026)
• Cabo Verde (January 21, 2026)
• Cambodia (April 2, 2026)
• Central African Republic (January 1, 2026)
• Cote D’Ivoire (January 21, 2026)
• Cuba (January 21, 2026)
• Djibouti (January 21, 2026)
• Dominica (January 21, 2026)
• Ethiopia (April 2, 2026)
• Fiji (January 21, 2026)
• Gabon (January 21, 2026)
• The Gambia (October 11, 2025)
• Georgia (April 2, 2026)
• Grenada (April 2, 2026)
• Guinea (January 1, 2026)
• Guinea-Bissau (January 1, 2026)
• Kyrgyz Republic (January 21, 2026)
• Lesotho (April 2, 2026)
• Malawi (August 20, 2025)
• Mauritania (October 23, 2025)
• Mauritius (April 2, 2026)
• Mongolia (April 2, 2026)
• Mozambique (April 2, 2026)
• Namibia (January 1, 2026)
• Nepal (January 21, 2026)
• Nicaragua (April 2, 2026)
• Nigeria (January 21, 2026)
• Papua New Guinea (April 2, 2026)
• Sao Tome and Principe (October 23, 2025)
• Senegal (January 21, 2026)
• Seychelles (April 2, 2026)
• Tajikistan (January 21, 2026)
• Tanzania (October 23, 2025)
• Togo (January 21, 2026)
• Tonga (January 21, 2026)
• Tunisia (April 2, 2026)
• Turkmenistan (January 1, 2026)
• Tuvalu (January 21, 2026)
• Uganda (January 21, 2026)
• Vanuatu (January 21, 2026)
• Venezuela (January 21, 2026)
• Zambia (August 20, 2025) 
• Zimbabwe (January 21, 2026)

Pursuant to INA Section 221(g)(3), a consular officer may require the posting of a visa bond prior to visa issuance.  The Final Rule issued August 3, 2026 establishes the visa bond program under the authority if INA Section 221(g)(3).  Visa overstay rates are based on the B1/B2 overstay rates per the Department of Homeland Security’s Entry/Exit Overstay Report.

Any citizen or national traveling on a passport issued by one of these countries, who is found otherwise eligible for a B1/B2 visa, must post a bond for $10,000, $15,000, or $20,000.  The amount is determined at the time of the visa interview.  The applicant must also submit a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Form I-352.  Applicants must agree to the terms of the bond through the Department of the Treasury’s online payment platform Pay.gov, and the requirement applies regardless of place of application.

Applicants should submit Form I-352 to post a bond only after a consular officer directs them to do so.  Applicants will receive a direct link to pay through Pay.gov.  Applicants must not post the bond on any website not specifically listed in the instructions received from the consular officer.  The U.S. Government is not responsible for any money paid outside of its systems.

The visa bond may be paid by the applicant or by a third party (such as a friend, family member, or business associate).  A third-party payee may be located either within or outside the applicant’s home country.  The person who posts the bond (obligor) is the person to whom the bond deposit will be refunded, if the terms of the bond have not been breached.  All visa bonds must be paid in U.S. dollars and will be returned in U.S. dollars.  The obligor is responsible for any fluctuations in the exchange rate.

*The name of the obligor listed on the form I-352 MUST match the name of the person paying.*

A bond does not guarantee visa issuance.  If someone pays visa bonds or other fees without a consular officer’s direction, the fees will not be returned.

Required ports of entry

As a condition of the bond, all visa holders who have posted a visa bond must enter and exit the United States through the designated ports of entry listed below.  Not doing so may lead to denied entry or a departure that is not properly recorded.  Effective immediately, ports of entry include:

• All commercial air ports of entry, including Customs and Border Protection (CBP) preclearance locations.
  • Visa bond holders may NOT use charter air, general aviation, land, or sea ports of entry.

Visa bond compliance

Visa Bond terms are set on the bond form (DHS’s Form I-352 Immigration Bonds) and on Travel.State.Gov.  The bond will be canceled and the money returned automatically in following situations:

• Upon expiration of the visa, if the visa holder did not travel to the United States, as captured by the DHS’s Arrival and Departure Information System (ADIS);
• Upon expiration of the visa, if the visa holder is not in the United States as captured by ADIS, departed through a commercial air port of entry/exit, and complied with all terms of the visa;
• Following the timely departure from the United States of a visa holder through a commercial air port of entry/exit, if the visa expired during the lawful stay, as captured by ADIS, and the visa holder complied with all terms of the visa;
• Following CBP deeming the visa holder inadmissible and cancellation of the visa by CBP at the port of entry, as captured by ADIS; or
• Following timely departure from the United States through a commercial air port of entry/exit, before the extended date (if any) to which he or she is authorized to remain in the United States pursuant to an approved request for extension of stay or change of status, as captured by ADIS, and the visa holder complied with all terms of the visa and any other relevant nonimmigrant classifications obtained.

Visa bond breach

DHS will send cases where the visa holder may have broken the visa bond terms to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to determine if there was a breach.  It includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Substantial violation of any condition of his or her status as specified on the visa bond form;
• Filing an untimely request for change of status under Section 248 of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1258;
• Remaining in the United States after expiration of the temporary period of admission or, if the alien timely and properly files a request for extension of stay or change of status of her/his lawful temporary stay, the alien does not depart the United States within 10 days after denial of such request;
• Filing an untimely request for extension of stay to extend nonimmigrant status under 8 CFR 214.1; or
• Filing for asylum or any other form of humanitarian protection that is submitted on Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal.