The United States has introduced new travel restrictions that could require Nigerians applying for B1/B2 visa to post bonds of up to $15,000.
Visa bonds are financial guarantees required by the US state
department for certain foreign nationals from high-risk countries applying for
B1/B2 visas (business or tourism visas).
African countries accounted for 24 of the 38 listed,
including Nigeria, in the updated list released by the state department on
Tuesday.
The measures take effect on different dates for each
country, with Nigeria’s set for January 21.
“Any citizen or national traveling on a passport issued by
one of these countries, who is found otherwise eligible for a B1/B2 visa, must
post a bond for $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000. The amount is determined at the
time of the visa interview,” the state department notice reads.
“The applicant must also submit a Department of Homeland
Security Form I-352. Applicants must agree to the terms of the bond through the
Department of the Treasury’s online payment platform Pay.gov. This requirement
applies regardless of place of application.
“A bond does not guarantee visa issuance. If someone pays
fees without a consular officer’s direction, the fees will not be returned.”
Visa holders who post bonds must also enter the United
States through designated airports, including Boston Logan, John F. Kennedy in
New York, and Washington Dulles in Virginia.
The bonds will only be refunded when the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) records the visa holder’s departure from the US on or
before the date to which they are authorised to stay, when the applicant does
not travel to the US before the expiration of their visa, or if the traveller
applies for and is denied admission at the US port of entry.
The development comes a week after partial US travel
restrictions on Nigeria took effect.
Nigeria was among 15 mostly African countries, including
Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, and The
Gambia, placed on partial travel suspensions by the US government on December
16.
In Nigeria’s case, the US cited the free operation of
radical Islamic terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State in
certain parts of the country, creating “substantial screening and vetting
difficulties”.
An overstay rate of 5.56 percent on the B-1/B-2 visa and an
overstay rate of 11.90 percent on the F, M, and J visas were also cited as
reasons for the addition of Nigeria to the list.
As a result, the travel suspension covered immigrant visas
as well as non-immigrant visas, including B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J
categories
The decree took effect January 1.
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