African immigrants from 15 countries who wish to travel to the US will have to pay Ksh1.6 million as bonds in new temporary travel rules introduced by President Donald Trump.
The countries affected include: Sudan, Burundi, The Gambia, Libya, Liberia, Mauritania, Sao Tome and Principe, DRC, Djibouti, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Eritrea and Guinea-Bissau.
A statement by the Department of State stated that the new rule albeit temporary is on a pilot phase for six months. It is will come into effect on December 24 through to June 24.
The Department of State said it is focusing on visitors who overstay their visas.
“Visa applicants potentially subject to the Pilot Program include aliens who: are applying for visas as temporary visitors for business or pleasure (B-1/B-2); are from countries with high visa overstay rates,” reads a statement from the Department of State.
Once the pilot kicks off, consular officers will demand a 10 per cent bond or an amount higher than that on non-immigrant visa applicants who previously had an overstay as a condition for the issuance of a visa.
Through the six-month pilot programme, the US government have a policy informed based on the findings which will focus in issues such as the posting, processing and discharging of the visa bonds.
In the long term, this could be used to create a framework where visa bonds will be adopted for purposes of national security as well as foreign policy objectives.
Currently, operations surrounding visa bonds have remained a thorn in the flesh among consular officers.
Trump introduces these rules as he serves his last two months in office before passing the baton to Joe Biden on January 20.
Most of Trump’s immigration policies have attracted backlash from world all over and pundits project that Biden’s administration will reverse most of the immigration rules passed by Trump’s administration.
