The US government will launch a new pilot program starting on August 20, allowing consular officials to ask tourists or those coming to the US to work from some countries to deposit up to 5,000-15,000 USD before being granted a visa. This is the latest move to tighten control of visa expiration.
According to the announcement published in the US Federal Reserve on August 4, the program will last for about 1 year. The three deposit levels are applied as 5,000 USD, 10,000 USD and 15,000 USD, however, most cases will be required to have a minimum of 10,000 USD. This amount will be refunded if tourists leave the US on time and comply with visa conditions.
The subjects of application are citizens of countries with a high rate of visa expiration, or from countries that are assessed as lacking transparency in the work of reviewing and sharing security information.
Some countries mentioned include Chad, Eritrea, Haiti, Myanmar, Yemen, along with many African countries such as Burundi, Djibouti and Vietnam. These are also countries that were once on the immigration ban list issued by Trump in June.
In addition, a new fee called a visas guarantee fee worth $250 will also take effect from October 1. The fee is set in a major spending package passed by the US Congress in July. Although there is a possibility of a refund, this high fee is expected to make the US one of the countries with the highest visa costs in the world.
" Countries will be identified based on high rates of expired stays, shortcomings in screening and appraisal, concerns about naturalization through investment without a residential requirement, and considerations about foreign policy," said the US State Department spokesperson.
The US State Department did not give specific figures on how many people may be affected, but according to the American Tourism Association, it is estimated that only about 2,000 visa applications are affected, mainly from countries with a small number of tourists coming to the US.
However, observers warn that the new policy may make many people afraid to travel or work in the US, in the context that the number of international visitors to the US has not fully recovered after the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, transatlantic airfares have fallen to record lows, while the number of visitors from Canada and Mexico to the US has fallen as much as 20% over the past year.
The visa deposit requirements program was tested for a short time at the end of 2020, but has not been widely implemented due to the impact of the global COVID-19 epidemic. This time, the official restart under Mr. Trump is considered a new strong step in the policy of fighting illegal immigration and controlling the border.
