The California-based Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) has strongly condemned the expansion of the US Visa Bond Programme, warning that it discriminatorily impacts Caribbean and other immigrants.
HBA Executive Director Guerline Jozef told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that the policy requires certain B-1/B-2 visa applicants to post financial bonds ranging from US$5,000 to US$20,000 as a condition of entry.
While presented as a visa compliance measure, Jozef said that the policy creates ‘a wealth-based barrier to lawful travel and raises serious concerns regarding fairness, transparency and discrimination’.
Jozef said that by conditioning mobility on the ability to produce thousands of dollars upfront, the policy disproportionately impacts individuals from countries facing economic hardship and humanitarian challenges.
‘This policy is discriminatory in both its design and its practical impact. Access to lawful travel should not depend on whether an individual can afford a substantial financial bond. This creates a system where mobility is determined by wealth rather than eligibility.’
She said the financial burden of this policy is especially concerning given economic realities in the United States.
‘Millions of Americans lack sufficient savings to cover unexpected expenses as low as US$500.00, and a similar requirement imposed on US travelers abroad would place international travel out of reach for many.
‘A policy that would be viewed as exclusionary if applied to Americans should not become acceptable when imposed on travelers from Africa, the Caribbean, and other regions of the Global South,’ the HBA executive director said.
She said while the US Department of State has not issued a final list of countries subject to the expanded programme, the initial Visa Bond Pilot Programme provides insight into its potential impact.
Jozef said the countries included in the pilot programme were concentrated in Africa and other regions with predominantly Black and brown populations, ‘raising serious concerns about disparate impact and the use of nationality-based classifications in immigration policy.’
She noted that those lists have grown to include approximately 50 countries, with a significant concentration in Africa, as well as nations in Latin America, the Caribbean, and parts of Asia.
Jozef said countries added in recent updates include, among others, Ethiopia, Lesotho Mozambique, and several other African and Global South nations, alongside select countries in Latin America and Asia.
‘The geographic pattern is clear: the policy overwhelmingly impacts countries with majority Black and brown populations. This policy cannot be separated from its impact. When a policy disproportionately burdens communities of colou around the world, it demands greater transparency, accountability and review.’
Jozef further warned that the Visa Bond Programme raises ‘significant concerns’ under the US Administrative Procedure Act (APA), including whether the government has provided adequate justification, established transparent selection criteria, or considered less restrictive alternatives.
Jozef said the HBA is urging the State Department to suspend implementation of the programme pending further review; provide transparent criteria for country selection and application; assess the policy’s disparate impacts on affected communities; and ensure visa policies uphold ‘fairness, due process and equal treatment’.
Jozef also urged the US Congress to exercise its oversight authority by organizing a hearing on this matter; restrict funding through appropriations for the execution of this programme; introduce legislation that would limit the Secretary of State’s authority to impose nationality-based financial burdens; and direct the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct an independent review of the Visa Bond Program’s ‘effectiveness, legality and disparate impact.’
‘As Haiti continues to face profound humanitarian and security challenges, HBA emphasizes that additional financial barriers to lawful travel will disproportionately affect Haitian families, businesses and communities,’ Jozef warned.
The State Department said the Visa Bond Programme finalizes the temporary final rule that went into effect on August 20, 2025, which launched a 12-month long Visa Bond Pilot Programme, and establishes a permanent visa bond programme.
‘An alien applying for a visa as a temporary visitor for business or pleasure (B-1/B-2) may be required to submit a bond (visa bond) to ensure that the alien maintains his or her nonimmigrant status and departs as required,’ it said.
‘Consular officers may require covered nonimmigrant visa applicants to post a bond of up to US$20,000 as a condition of visa issuance, as determined by the consular officers,’ the State Department added.
It said the final rule authorizes consular officers to ‘require the posting of a bond by an alien applying for, and otherwise eligible to receive, a business visitor/tourist (B-1/B-2) visa to insure that at the expiration of the time for which such alien has been admitted, or upon failure to maintain the status under which [the alien] was admitted, or to maintain any status subsequently acquired, such alien will depart from the United States’.
Under the program, the State Department said visa bonds may be required from certain business/pleasure (B1/B-2) visa applicants who are nationals of countries with ‘high overstay rates, deficient information sharing, insufficient identity verification and criminal records, and that need improvement in the area of screening and vetting and the security of travel and civil documents, including in the granting of citizenship.’
The State Department said it will announce the covered countries no fewer than 15 days before the programme takes effect, and that this list may be amended on ‘a rolling basis, with 15 days from announcement to enactment for any countries added and with immediate effect for any countries removed from the list’.
In May, the Department of State identified Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba, Dominica and Grenada as Caribbean countries needing visa bonds.
Last weekend, the Antigua and Barbuda government said Prime Minister Gaston Browne had written to President Donald Trump as it seeks a review of US visa restrictions and visa bond measures.
The government said that, among the measures highlighted in Brown’s letter is the strengthening by legislation of the residency requirements under Antigua and Barbuda’s Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme through which foreign nationals are granted citizenship in return for making a substantial investment in the socio-economic development of the island.
Prime Minister Brown’s letter also pointed to his country’s willingness to cooperate with the United States regarding Third-Country Nationals within the limits of its national capacity.
In Grenada’s case the bond rule follows an August 2025 decision by the US to revoke the visas held by Finance Minister Dennis Cornwall, a move regional media tied to Washington’s crackdown on governments linked to Cuba’s medical brigade programme.
Cornwall becoming the first senior Caribbean official targeted struck directly at the Mitchell administration, which has kept Cuban doctors and nurses in Grenadian hospitals despite US pressure to cut ties.