U.S. Travel Association warns against widening visa bond program

The U.S. Travel Association expressed alarm that the Trump administration may broaden a visa bond program, which currently applies to applicants from 50 countries, to additional nations. Geoff Freeman, the association’s president, warned that such an expansion would be extraordinarily detrimental to both the travel industry and the U.S. economy. The State Department has now made permanent a pilot launched in August 2025 that permits consular officers to require refundable bonds of up to $20,000 from certain tourist and business visa seekers.

In the pilot period, visa issuances in the covered countries fell sharply, while overstays dropped to a minimal level. The program targets nations with historically high overstay rates or weak information-sharing and document security. Freeman noted that the covered nations represent less than 2% of U.S. visitors, yet the industry is already grappling with a 25% decline in Canadian travel and Asian arrivals at half of 2019 levels, contributing to a 4.3% year-to-date decline in overseas travel to the United States.