WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The outgoing administration of U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday issued a new momentary rule that could involve tourist and business enterprise vacationers from two dozen nations, most in Africa, to fork out a bond of as a great deal as $15,000 to pay a visit to the United States.
The U.S. State Department explained the short term last rule, which will take influence Dec. 24 and runs by way of June 24, targets international locations whose nationals have increased rates of overstaying B-2 visas for travelers and B-1 visas for business tourists. The Trump administration reported the 6-thirty day period pilot method aims to check the feasibility of accumulating this sort of bonds and will provide as a diplomatic deterrence to overstaying the visas.
Trump, who dropped a re-election bid earlier this thirty day period, designed restricting immigration a central part of his four-calendar year term in workplace. President-elect Joe Biden, a Democrat, has pledged to reverse quite a few of the Republican president’s immigration policies, but untangling hundreds of changes could acquire months or several years.
Biden’s transition group did not immediately answer to a ask for for remark connected to the visa bond need.
The visa bond rule will allow for U.S. consular officers to have to have vacationer and organization tourists from countries whose nationals had an “overstay rate” of 10{c6f60a940f907a5be18cce4efb98a3ab19a68698c1023117210d541c9b2716c5} or higher in 2019 to pay out a refundable bond of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000.
Twenty-4 international locations meet up with that conditions, which include 15 African international locations. Whilst these nations experienced bigger rates of overstays, they sent reasonably handful of travelers to the United States.
Historically, U.S. consular officers have been discouraged from necessitating tourists to the United States to publish a bond, with State Division steering stating processing of the bonds would be “cumbersome,” the short term rule mentioned.
Countries whose vacationer and enterprise vacationers could be topic to the bond need include these from Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sudan, Chad, Angola, Burundi, Djibouti and Eritrea. Other nations include things like Afghanistan, Bhutan, Iran, Syria, Laos and Yemen.(in this article)
Reporting by Ted Hesson Modifying by Ross Colvin and Aurora Ellis