United States considers imposing million-dollar bonds to enter the country: What is known about the pilot plan
It could become much more expensive for certain foreign visitors. The United States is seeking to establish bonds ranging from [amount] for temporary business and tourism visas, under the premise of reducing cases of illegal stay.
A pilot program that would change the visa process
The official notice, to be published on [date], states that this test would be applied for 12 months. It would affect citizens of countries identified with high rates of illegal stay or with internal document control systems considered unreliable. Applicants who have obtained [something] through investment without residency requirements in that country could also be included.
The measure would add to other recently announced restrictions, such as the requirement for in-person interviews for some visa renewals and the demand for a valid passport for [type of visa] applicants.
Bonds of up to $15,000 and countries not yet defined
The plan includes bonds in three levels: [amounts], to be paid when applying for the visa and potentially returned if the terms of stay in the United States are met. For now, the countries that would enter the list have not been disclosed and will be known once the program comes into effect, less than two weeks after the official publication.
The measure would not apply to citizens of the 42 countries included in the [program], which allows visa-free travel for up to 90 days.
Although similar proposals have been made in the past, they were never implemented. The United States previously acknowledged that bonds could be a cumbersome process and generate negative perceptions. However, [entity] argues that there are no recent examples proving their ineffectiveness, so the pilot plan seeks to evaluate their real viability.
