United States | State Department removes Mali from visa bond requirements list as of Oct. 23

As of Oct. 23, the State Department has updated its list of countries subject to visa bond requirements under the Temporary Final Rule Visa Bond Pilot Program authorized by the Immigration and Nationality Act Section 221(g)(3) and removed Mali, which had been added to the list on Oct. 8.

Key Points:

• The current list of foreign nationals from their respective countries required to post visa bonds when applying for B-1/B-2 visitor visas with the following implementation dates includes:
  • Mauritania (Oct. 23, 2025)
  • Sao Tome and Principe (Oct. 23, 2025)
  • Tanzania (Oct. 23, 2025)
  • The Gambia (Oct. 11, 2025)
  • Malawi (Aug. 20, 2025)
  • Zambia (Aug. 20, 2025)
• Visa applicants who are found eligible for a B-1/B-2 visa, but who are subject to the visa bond pilot program, will be required to pay a bond in the amount of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000.

Additional Information: The launch of the visa bond pilot program was announced in August. The pilot will run for 12 months from Aug. 20, 2025, until Aug. 5, 2026.

More details on the bond payment process, required ports of entry, visa bond compliance and visa bond breach can be found here. During the pilot, there will not be a waiver application process.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

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