US visa bond programme will require eligible Nigerian and other African business and tourist visa applicants to pay a refundable bond of up to $20,000 as the United States moves to curb visa overstays.
The United States Department of State announced that the policy will take effect on Monday, August 3, 2026, following the completion of a pilot scheme launched in August 2025. The permanent programme targets applicants from countries with high visa overstay rates, limited information sharing, weak identity verification systems and gaps in travel document security.
Under the new rules, consular officers will determine the bond amount during visa interviews based on factors such as the applicant’s purpose of travel, employment, income and ties to their home country. The available bond amounts are $10,000, $15,000 and $20,000. The money will be refunded without interest once US immigration authorities confirm that the traveller left the country before the visa expired and complied with all visa conditions. However, the bond will be forfeited if any visa conditions are breached.
The State Department said the policy follows Executive Order 14159, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” which strengthens immigration bond administration. It added that the pilot programme reduced visa overstays from participating countries to fewer than 50 during its first 10 months, compared with 45,488 overstays recorded by the same 50 countries throughout 2024. However, visa issuance to those countries fell by 83 per cent, with nearly half of the 20,000 applicants choosing not to pay the bond. Total bond payments reached about $115 million.
The department described the US visa bond programme as “a tool of diplomacy” designed to encourage governments to improve information sharing and document security rather than as a punitive measure. The maximum bond amount will also be adjusted for inflation every seven years, beginning on October 1, 2027.
Separately, the US Mission in Nigeria warned applicants not to use AI-edited or filtered passport photographs for visa applications, stressing that submitted photographs must be recent and accurately reflect the applicant’s appearance.
Nigeria is among several African countries affected by the US visa bond programme, alongside Algeria, Tunisia, Benin, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal, Togo, São Tomé and Príncipe, Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Djibouti, Gabon, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Do you think the new visa bond policy will reduce visa overstays or discourage genuine travellers?
