Search
Contact
Login
Share this article
The U.S. State Department unveiled plans Monday for a six-month “visa bond” pilot program whereby consular officials would require a limited number of B-1/B-2 visa applicants to post a bond of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 in order to travel to the United States.
Key Points:
BAL Analysis: The State Department rule says the pilot program is designed to “assess the operational feasibility of posting, processing, and discharging visa bonds” and “to help assess the burden on government agencies and identify any practical challenges related to visa bonds.” The agency deliberately chose a small group in order to test the feasibility of using visa bonds. For that reason, the impact will likely be minimal. It is likely that the next administration will not be interested in pursuing this initiative, and the new administration could effectively decline to implement the rule by waiving all bond applications. BAL will continue to follow the implementation of the rule and will provide clients with updates as information becomes available.
This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.
Copyright © 2020 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries please contact copyright@bal.com.
The U.S. Department of Labor has posted updated processing times for permanent labor certification (PERM) applications. PERM Processing: As…
Immigrant visa issuance continued to climb in fiscal year 2023, surpassing pre-pandemic totals, according to recently published State…
EU member states’ ambassadors have agreed on a draft regulation that would let the EU suspend visa-free travel for countries…
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced this week that it will implement a streamlined process to provide Employment…