The Trump administration is reportedly preparing plans to bring in bonds for visitors to the U.S. If the government moves ahead with them, it could see tourists entering the country being forced to pay anywhere up to $15,000 for certain tourist or business visas.
The expensive bonds aim to tackle the issue of people overstaying their visas. According to The Guardian, it will only affect countries with a high overstay rate; most of these countries are reportedly in Africa. At this stage, the Trump administration is only planning to implement the bonds as part of a 12-month pilot program to test whether or not such a policy is financially viable.
How the $15k bonds work
The bonds aim to shift the financial burden away from the government as well as discourage people entering the country from overstaying their visas. People entering the U.S. on tourist or business visas would be expected to pay a bond of up to $15k (although the amount could be lower, either $5,000 or 10,000).
Countries affected by the visa bonds are listed on travel.state.gov. So far, the only countries listed on the site are Malawi and Zambia. According to the government site, individuals from these countries will have to pay the bond amount of either 5k, 10k, or 15k and will be “determined at time of visa interview.”
The money will apparently be returned to the individual when they either depart the U.S., become a naturalized citizen, or die.
Does Donald Trump know what a bad idea this is?
It’s difficult to see how this will help the U.S. The steep cost of entry will likely deter people from even wanting to visit, something which the country is already struggling with. In a report from Global News, two U.S. citizens, Serge and Lee Garces, shared their concerns that the plan would only hinder the U.S., with Lee claiming, “it’s going to be very harmful for our country.”
This comes shortly after Trump’s “big beautiful bill” brought in the $250 visa integrity fee, something which Geoff Freemen, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, claimed was “a fee that would make Ticketmaster blush.”
On X, others claimed this would be disastrous for the U.S. tourism industry, which is “already losing billions of dollars” in revenue.
Trump will start charging foreign travelers up to $15,000 to visit the US.
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) August 5, 2025
This comes as the country is already losing billions of dollars in tourism revenue. pic.twitter.com/5km0Gs5R3c
Donald Trump’s policies have already deterred many from visiting the country. According to Forbes, U.S. tourism will lose up to $29 billion while other countries are experiencing a tourism boom. This has put millions of jobs at risk, and that’s before the new visa bonds policy was even brought in.
Rather than discouraging people from overstaying, these bonds will likely only further discourage people from visiting while also accelerating the isolation of the U.S. from the rest of the world.
