By MATTHEW LEE, AP Diplomatic Author
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has added seven nations, together with 5 in Africa, to the record of countries whose passport holders are required to publish bonds of as much as $15,000 to use to enter the US.
13 nations, all however two of them in Africa, at the moment are on the record, which makes the method of acquiring a U.S. visa unaffordable for a lot of.
The State Division final week quietly added Bhutan, Botswana, the Central African Republic, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia and Turkmenistan to the record. These designations took impact on Jan. 1, in response to a discover posted on the journey.state.gov web site.
It’s the most recent effort by the Trump administration to tighten necessities for entry to the U.S., together with requiring residents from all nations that require visas to sit down for in-person interviews and disclose years of social media histories in addition to detailed accounts of their and their households’ earlier journey and residing preparations.
U.S. officers have defended the bonds, which might vary from $5,000 as much as $15,000, sustaining they’re efficient in making certain that residents of focused nations don’t overstay their visas.
Cost of the bond doesn’t assure a visa can be granted, however the quantity can be refunded if the visa is denied or when a visa holder demonstrates they’ve complied with the phrases of visa.
The brand new nations coated by the requirement be part of Mauritania, Sao Tome and Principe, Tanzania, Gambia, Malawi and Zambia, which had been all positioned on the record in August and October of final yr.
