State Department to charge some travelers $10,000 bond to get visas

[Airyaman]

The message to foreigners who want to come to America to stay for an extended period: don't. We don't really want you here.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/04/state-department-visa-bonds-00492077

The State Department is launching a pilot program wherein it will require
travelers entering the United States on tourism and business visas to pay a
hefty bond as a guarantee they will not stay in the United States.

In a cable sent to State Department employees Monday, Secretary of State
Marco Rubio said the department will implement a 12-month pilot of a “visa
bond” program designed to target travelers from countries whose nationals
have a high rate of overstaying their visas. Those applicants will be required
to pay a $10,000 bond per adult and $5,000 per child, according to two State
Department officials familiar with the cable. The officials were granted
anonymity to discuss the internal document without fear of reprisal.


The bonds will be collected by the Treasury Department, per the cable, and
travelers will recoup their money if they exit the United States within the
timespan of the visa and use specific ports of entry to enter and depart.
Travelers affected must also enter the United States within 30 days of the
visa being issued.

Seriously, who would want to have to fork over $10k just for a visa to come to a country that is hostile to foreigners?

Find someone else to spend your time, America is no longer a place welcome to all.

 

[Mycroft]

The message to foreigners who want to come to America to stay for an extended period: don't. We don't really want you here.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/04/state-department-visa-bonds-00492077

View attachment 67583210



Seriously, who would want to have to fork over $10k just for a visa to come to a country that is hostile to foreigners?

Find someone else to spend your time, America is no longer a place welcome to all.

The US isn't hostile to foreigners. It's hostile to people who over-stay their visas.

 

[Airyaman]

The US isn't hostile to foreigners. It's hostile to people who over-stay their visas.

So penalize people who aren't going to overstay their visas by making them put up $10k first?

Yeah, that's a big "FU" to foreigners.

 

[Lord of Planar]

The message to foreigners who want to come to America to stay for an extended period: don't. We don't really want you here.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/04/state-department-visa-bonds-00492077

View attachment 67583210



Seriously, who would want to have to fork over $10k just for a visa to come to a country that is hostile to foreigners?

Find someone else to spend your time, America is no longer a place welcome to all.

It is returned to them when they go home. I don't see a problem. If they have enough to come here and visit, this shouldn't be a problem.

I hope it also applies to H series Visas and that the employer pays that.

 

[Airyaman]

It is returned to them when they go home. I don;t see a problem. If they have enough to come here and visit, this shouldn't be a problem.

I hope it also applies to H series Visas and that the employer pays that.

Sure, everyone has an extra $10k lying around on top of the money they need to travel and stay her for awhile.

What they are saying is that they only want wealthy foreigners to visit.

 

[Mycroft]

So penalize people who aren't going to overstay their visas by making them put up $10k first?

Yeah, that's a big "FU" to foreigners.

Only foreigners who come from areas where a lot of people who over-stay their visas come from.

 

[Airyaman]

Only foreigners who come from areas where a lot of people who over-stay their visas come from.

So it's their fault they live in those countries?

 

[phoenix2020]

America to world sporting federations: please don't select American cities to host world tourneys.

 

[Mycroft]

So it's their fault they live in those countries?

shrug...

Some might think this sucks, but their own countrymen are the reason it's happening.

 

[Mr Person]

It is returned to them when they go home. I don't see a problem. If they have enough to come here and visit, this shouldn't be a problem.

I hope it also applies to H series Visas and that the employer pays that.

Of course you don't see a problem. Trump is the one demanding it.

 

[Lutherf]

They don't have to pay $10k. Typically one pays 10% of the bond value and then is on the hook for the remainder only if they violate the terms of the bond.

It's an interesting idea but I'm not sure how practical or effective it will be. Someone coming here illegally can still just cross outside a port of entry.

 

[Airyaman]

They don't have to pay $10k. Typically one pays 10% of the bond value and then is on the hook for the remainder only if they violate the terms of the bond.

It's an interesting idea but I'm not sure how practical or effective it will be. Someone coming here illegally can still just cross outside a port of entry.

Lol, this is not a criminal court bond.

 

[Lutherf]

Lol, this is not a criminal court bond.

It's a surety bond and they all work pretty much the same way whether it's for a contractor, for licensing or for any other purpose.

 

[Airyaman]

It's a surety bond and they all work pretty much the same way whether it's for a contractor, for licensing or for any other purpose.

 

[phoenix2020]

It's a surety bond and they all work pretty much the same way whether it's for a contractor, for licensing or for any other purpose.

No, you are wrong. Donald was very clear that the full payment is required when he tried this in 2020: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/11/24/2020-24223/visas-visa-bond-pilot-program

If you have any further concerns about the requirement for full payment ahead of visa issuance, please take it up with Donald John Trump.

 

[Lutherf]

View attachment 67583215

I'm not sure where you're getting that but a process like you describe kind of defeats the purpose of a bond. If you have to deposit a given amount subject to forfeiture then that's no longer a bond.

 

[Airyaman]

I'm not sure where you're getting that but a process like you describe kind of defeats the purpose of a bond. If you have to deposit a given amount subject to forfeiture then that's no longer a bond.

ChatGPT. Grok says the same thing. You're free to find other sources.



Now, maybe you could find some American company willing to take 10% from a foreigner for this, but good luck.

That person would have to pay the bond company a fee which they would never get back.

 

[Lutherf]

No, you are wrong. Donald was very clear that the full payment is required when he tried this in 2020: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/11/24/2020-24223/visas-visa-bond-pilot-program

If you have any further concerns about the requirement for full payment ahead of visa issuance, please take it up with Donald John Trump.

I read through the pilot program and don't see what you're claiming. If you can point it out I'll be happy to reconsider my position.

 

[Lutherf]

ChatGPT. Grok says the same thing. You're free to find other sources.

View attachment 67583217

Now, maybe you could find some American company willing to take 10% from a foreigner for this, but good luck.

That person would have to pay the bond company a fee which they would never get back.

Oh, well, if Grok says then it MUST be true

 

[Threegoofs]

It is returned to them when they go home. I don't see a problem. If they have enough to come here and visit, this shouldn't be a problem.

I hope it also applies to H series Visas and that the employer pays that.

If you dont see a problem with this.. you have a bigger problem than not being able to see the problem.

 

[Airyaman]

Oh, well, if Grok says then it MUST be true

Feel free to debunk it.

 

[Lutherf]

Feel free to debunk it.

Of course. You made the claim therefore it's "true" and everyone else has to prove you wrong. Typical liberal bullshit.

 

[phoenix2020]

I read through the pilot program and don't see what you're claiming. If you can point it out I'll be happy to reconsider my position.

Well, it is I who will reconsider my position, since the pilot program did in fact make an allowance for both cash and surety bonds, so I was the one in the wrong.

 

[Lutherf]

From the pilot plan rules:

The face value of visa bonds will be deposited in the appropriate account using the Treasury-hosted https://www.pay.gov website via Form I-352, Immigration Bond.

That DOES NOT preclude a third party from posting the bond and charging the user a fee.

Further along we have this -

The obligor on the bond, whether a person who posts a cash bond on behalf of the visa applicant or the visa applicant, will be informed if the visa applicant fails to comply with the terms and conditions of the bond and, consequently,
that the bond has been breached

This implies that third party bonds WILL be accepted.

At no place in the rule do I see any requirement that the applicant has to post the entire cash amount.

Again, the purpose of a surety bond is to encourage compliance with a certain rule. Third parties that issue bonds on behalf of a customer generally do not charge that person 100% of the bond face value and only collect that amount when the bond is found to be in default.

 

[Slartibartfast]

The size of the bond likely will be highly correlated to the amount of melanin in the traveler's skin.