State Department Makes Visa Bonds Permanent: What B-1/B-2 Applicants Need to Know

August 2026 | By Parikh & Prasad, PC

On August 3, 2026, the State Department made the Visa Bond Program permanent. If you are from a covered country and otherwise qualify for a B-1/B-2 visa, a consular officer can now require you to post $10,000, $15,000, or $20,000 in cash before the visa is issued. The rule took effect on publication, and it changes how you must enter and leave the country, how long your visa lasts, and what happens if you try to extend or change status here.

What a Visa Bond Is

A visa bond is money you deposit with the U.S. government as security that you will follow your visa's terms and leave on time.

The authority behind it is old. INA section 221(g)(3), 8 U.S.C. 1201(g)(3), lets a consular officer require a bond from someone who is otherwise eligible for a visitor or student visa, to ensure that person departs when the authorized stay ends or if they fall out of status. Regulations at 22 CFR 41.11(b)(2) and 22 CFR 41.31(a)(1) have long referred to bonds in borderline cases where departure “does not seem fully assured.” DHS regulations at 8 CFR 221.1 and 8 CFR 103.6 handle the mechanics.

What changed is practice, not power. As the Department puts it in the final rule, consular officers historically were not instructed to use this authority.

From a One-Year Pilot to a Permanent Program

The permanent program grew out of a temporary final rule effective August 20, 2025, published at 90 FR 37378. That launched a 12-month pilot running through August 5, 2026, so State, DHS, and Treasury could see whether bonds could be collected, held, and returned at scale.

50 countries were added over the pilot's first 10 months. Those countries accounted for 45,488 overstays in fiscal year 2024; during the pilot's first 10 months, the Department counted fewer than 50. Roughly 20,000 applications were determined to require a bond, close to half of which resulted in payment — about $115 million posted. Visa issuance for pilot countries fell 83 percent against the same period a year earlier, a drop the Department attributes partly to applicants deciding not to pay.

The rule responds to Executive Order 14159, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” (90 FR 8443), which directs Treasury, with State and DHS, to build a system for administering immigration bonds. The Department describes the program as diplomatic leverage on foreign governments to reduce overstays and improve information sharing and document security, citing DHS Entry/Exit Overstay Reports showing over 480,000 suspected in-country overstays among air and sea arrivals in FY 2024, and a FY 2019 overstay rate of 0.44 percent for Visa Waiver Program countries against 2.06 percent for non-VWP travelers.

One procedural note: this went out as a final rule with no notice and comment, under the Administrative Procedure Act's exemption for rules involving a foreign affairs function, 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1). That is also why it took effect on publication instead of after the usual 30-day delay. Public comment, the Department argues, would trigger premature international speculation and disrupt sensitive diplomatic discussions. Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Morvared Namdarkhan signed it.

Who Is Covered

Only B-1/B-2 business and tourist applicants. The statute would also permit bonds for F student applicants, but the Department chose not to, reasoning that a B visitor's stay is fixed by a CBP officer at the port of entry and usually lasts months — a one-year maximum under 8 CFR 214.2(b)(1) and (b)(2).

Beyond that, you must be a national of a country outside the Visa Waiver Program that the Department has identified based on high overstay rates, deficient information sharing, insufficient identity verification and criminal records, or a need for improvement in screening, vetting, and the security of travel and civil documents, including in granting citizenship. Meeting those criteria does not automatically put a country on the list.

The list lives on travel.state.gov. A newly added country has to appear there at least 15 days before the requirement bites; removals are immediate. Countries covered under the pilot stay covered.

One caution: as of its May 13, 2026 update, that page still listed the pilot's bond amounts of $5,000, $10,000, and $15,000. The permanent rule sets higher figures. Read the Federal Register text alongside the country list.

How Much the Bond Will Be

Consular officers set the bond at one of three amounts: $10,000, $15,000, or $20,000, with $15,000 as the default. An officer may drop to $10,000 if you likely cannot pay $15,000 while still funding the trip itself, and may go up to $20,000 if your circumstances — including the nature and extent of your contacts in the United States — suggest $15,000 would not be enough to ensure you leave on time. Officers weigh the totality of the circumstances: purpose of travel, employment, income, skills, education.

Those tiers derive partly from DHS's Immigration Enforcement Lifecycle cost of approximately $18,042 per person for FY 2024. Starting October 1, 2027, and every seven years after that, the $20,000 maximum adjusts for inflation using the CPI-U for the U.S. City Average, rounded up to the nearest $1,000.

There is no waiver application. Under 22 CFR 41.11(c)(3), the Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs or a designate may waive the requirement for an individual, country, or category if that is not contrary to the national interest — but the rule gives applicants no way to ask. Consular officers may recommend a waiver in very limited circumstances, such as travel by U.S. government employees or urgent humanitarian needs.

How the Process Works at the Consulate

You apply normally: appointment, interview, machine-readable visa fee. If the officer finds you otherwise eligible and within the program's scope, the officer names the bond amount and refuses the visa under INA 221(g), 8 U.S.C. 1201(g). Posting the bond overcomes that refusal.

You then get notice with a link to the Visa Bond Program payment platform operated by Treasury, plus the applicable DHS bond form. Funds sit at a U.S. financial institution acting as a government financial agent. Payment must be electronic and in U.S. dollars for the full amount, through options that may include domestic ACH or wire, international wire, digital wallets, and cards — card processing fees are yours.

Pay only after a consular officer directs you to, using the official link you are sent, and never through a third-party website. The government is not responsible for money paid outside its systems.

A relative, friend, or business associate may post it for you, from inside or outside your home country. Whoever posts the bond is the obligor, and the obligor is who gets the refund.

Travel Restrictions That Come With the Bond

A bonded visa is annotated to show the bond, and is issued for a single entry or multiple entries within three months, or up to 12 months multiple entry, depending on reciprocity. For applicants used to longer validity, that is a real reduction.

Then there is the route condition. You may enter and depart only through commercial airports of entry, including CBP Preclearance locations. Land and sea ports are off limits. You may travel to a contiguous territory after your initial entry if readmission qualifies under the automatic revalidation provisions of 22 CFR 41.122(d), but your ultimate departure still has to be from a commercial U.S. airport. Leave any other way and you risk the entire bond.

What Breaches the Bond

The full bond is forfeited on a substantial violation. Not reduced. Not prorated. Under the new 22 CFR 41.11(c)(4)(ii), these count as violations:

• Remaining in the United States after the temporary period of admission expires;
• Filing an untimely request for a change of status;
• Failing to depart within 10 days after denial of a timely and properly filed request for extension of stay or change of status;
• Filing an untimely request for an extension of stay; or
• Filing for asylum or any other form of humanitarian protection submitted on Form I-589.

The preamble adds that substantially violating any condition of status specified on the bond form is a breach, and that those conditions include not accepting unauthorized employment.

That last bullet deserves attention. A bonded visitor who develops a protection claim after arriving faces a direct financial consequence for filing Form I-589. Talk to an attorney before you file.

A breach starts with an automated review that generates a preliminary finding. The case goes to DHS, which makes the final determination under 8 CFR 103.6(c)(3) and notifies the obligor in writing. Appeals follow the associated forms and 8 CFR 103.3. The obligor may be a relative or business associate rather than the traveler — so the person who loses the money may be the one who has to appeal.

Extensions and Changes of Status Carry a New Risk

Filing a timely extension or change-of-status request is not itself a breach, as long as you comply with every condition of each status you hold — including not working without authorization — and depart by the extended date.

But read this part twice. USCIS may treat the existence of a visa bond as a negative discretionary factor when it adjudicates that request. The bond does not just sit in an account; it can weigh against you later. The rule also confirms that nothing in it changes DHS's authority to set the period of authorized stay.

Getting the Money Back

Under 8 CFR 103.6(c)(3), a bond is cancelled on substantial performance of all its conditions, confirmed through DHS system data. The principal comes back if the visa expires without you ever traveling; if you complied with its terms and departed through a commercial airport, whether the visa expired before or during your stay; if CBP finds you inadmissible and cancels the visa at the port of entry; or if you depart on time through a commercial airport before an extended date granted through an approved extension or change of status.

The money returns to the original form of payment, and the obligor must make sure that account can still receive it. Exchange fees fall on the payer. No interest accrues. Refunds stay subject to offset or levy through the Treasury Offset Program for delinquent federal or state debts. The Department or DHS issues an Immigration Bond Cancelation Notice confirming compliance.

Never used the visa? You can seek cancellation before it expires at an appointment with consular officials abroad. The officer will approve it only after confirming there was no travel, and must physically cancel the visa.

What to Do Now

Check whether your country is on the list before you apply. It changes on a rolling basis, and additions carry only 15 days' notice.

Treat the bond as a cash-flow problem, not a fee. The money is refundable, but it is tied up for the life of the visa and earns no interest.

Plan your departure route before you travel. Leaving by land or sea — even inadvertently, on a drive across a border — risks the full amount.

Do not let an extension or change-of-status deadline slip. Untimely filings are an express breach, and even a timely filing may be weighed against you.

Get advice before filing Form I-589. Filing for asylum or humanitarian protection is listed as a bond violation.

Post the bond only through the official link you are given — never through a third-party site.

If you or a family member is applying for a visitor visa from a covered country, or you are already here on a bonded visa, these timing and route decisions carry real financial consequences. At Parikh & Prasad, PC, our attorneys track these consular developments closely. Contact us to schedule a consultation.

This post is attorney advertising and is provided for general information only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Immigration law changes rapidly; consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific situation.

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