Visitors from Afghanistan, Bhutan, 20 other nations may be forced to pay $15,000 as security.
Thanks to their low overstay rate in the US, visitors from India have been spared from Trump administration’s move to impose temporary US visa bonds on visitors from more than 20 countries.
The hardline US immigration measure could see visitors from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Iran, Myanmar and a number of African nations. forced to pay up $15,000 in addition to other visa costs, workpermit.com reported.
The rule is scheduled to take effect on Christmas Eve and run for six months. However, it remains to be seen whether President-elect Joe Biden will maintain the rule once he takes office in January 2021.
According to a notice published in the Federal Register, the pilot program is designed to “make up the costs to the US government of deporting foreign nationals who overstay their US visa.”
Foreign nationals from the countries targeted by the scheme, coming to the US on B1 and B2 visas – reserved for short-term business trips and tourism – will be subject to a fee of up to $15,000 payable to US immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), should they fail to prove that they left the US prior to the expiry of their visa.
Citizens of 23 countries will be subject to the visas bonds, which according to the notice published in the Federal Register, have a US visa overstay rate of more than 10 per cent.
The US Statement Department defended the decision not to subject the changes to public comment, saying that the issue was “a matter of conducting foreign relations, hence it’s not subject to the usual process.”
“The Pilot Program is being studied as a potential diplomatic tool to encourage foreign governments to take all appropriate actions to ensure that their nationals depart the United States in a timely manner after making temporary visits,” the notice said.
Visitors from India have been spared from the bonds for now as the overstay rate of Indians traveling on B1/B2 visas for short term visits is not very high.
According to USCIS data, only 13,203 Indians overstayed in 2019, making up a rate of 1.08%. The Trump administration proposal is aimed at an overstay rate of 10% or more, thus not applicable on Indian travelers.
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