US makes visa bond program of up to $20,000 permanent for 50 countries
The United States has made permanent its visa bond program for passport holders from 50 countries, including Tonga, Fiji, Tuvalu and Papua New Guinea. Applicants for non-immigrant B1 and B2 visas for business and tourist travel must pay a bond of between $10,000 and $20,000 before a visa is issued, ABC News Australia reports.
The pilot program was introduced at the beginning of the year for citizens of Tonga and 37 other countries. At that time, the bond ranged from $5,000 to $15,000 and depended on the applicant's personal circumstances. After the program was granted permanent status on August 3, it was extended to passport holders from 50 countries, and the amounts were increased.
The bond is refunded if the traveler complies with all visa conditions. The requirement applies regardless of where an application is submitted. Therefore, it may also affect citizens of Pacific states who permanently live in Australia but apply for a US visa using their country's passport.
Costs for applicants from Tonga
Tongan travel agent Alisi Moungaloa Afu, who has helped clients obtain US visas for 15 years, said that the number of people wishing to apply dropped sharply after the bonds were introduced. According to her, none of her clients has traveled to the United States since the pilot program began.
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For Tonga residents, obtaining a visa already involves substantial costs. The US Embassy in the country does not provide visa application services, so applicants usually need to travel to Suva, Fiji, for an interview. The consular fee is $185 and is non-refundable even if the visa is not issued.
Afu noted that even the minimum $10,000 bond is unaffordable for many Tongans. In her estimate, $20,000 may equal one or two years of a person's income in Tonga. Citizens of the country often travel to the United States for weddings, funerals or meetings with relatives in the Tongan diaspora.
Purpose of the program
The US State Department said the program has significantly improved compliance with permitted stay periods: during the 12-month pilot period, 98% of the 5,000 travelers issued visas subject to bonds returned to their countries on time.
According to official data, the previous overstay rate for B1 and B2 visa holders from Tonga was 6.45%, and for Fiji it was 3.95%. Australian National University researcher Henrietta McNeill-Stavers suggested that Tuvalu's participation in the program may be linked to its high rate of such violations, 11.63%. Regarding Vanuatu, she said the United States may also be paying attention to identity verification, travel document security and its citizenship-by-investment program.
