Nigerians and other African nationals applying for United States (US) business and tourist visas will now be required to deposit up to $20,000 as an entry condition.

The bond will be refunded without interest once the visitor departs the US within the approved timeframe and complies fully with visa conditions.
Failure to adhere to these terms will result in forfeiture of the funds.

The measure, which takes effect on Monday, August 3, 2026, is part of the Visa Bond Pilot Programme originally introduced in August 2025.

Read also:US expands $15,000 visa bond policy to 50 countries

According to US authorities, the decision follows growing concerns over visitors remaining in the country beyond their authorised period of stay, alongside persistent gaps in data sharing and identity verification by certain foreign governments.

The other African nations subject to the updated visa bond policy include:
Benin, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal, and Togo, Algeria, Tunisia, Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Djibouti, Gabon, and São Tomé and Príncipe, Botswana, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Under the policy, consular officers will evaluate each applicant and determine the required bond amount which is set at $10,000, $15,000, or $20,000, based on factors including travel purpose, financial standing, employment status, and ties to the applicant’s home country.

The US Department of State, which announced the directive, confirmed that the policy is backed by Executive Order 14159, titled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.” The order mandates federal agencies to strengthen immigration compliance mechanisms, including bond administration.

According to the department, the programme targets countries with high overstay rates, as well as those exhibiting deficiencies in information exchange, identity management, and document security.

During the initial pilot phase, 50 countries were selected, with qualified B-1/B-2 visa applicants required to lodge bonds of up to $15,000 based on consular assessments.

The State Department noted that the pilot recorded a sharp decline in overstays, reporting fewer than 50 cases in the first 10 months. This compares to 45,488 overstays recorded from the same group of countries in 2024.

However, the requirement led to a marked reduction in visa demand. Visa issuance for the affected nations dropped by 83 percent between August 2025 and July 2026, as nearly half of the approximately 20,000 applicants declined to pay the bond. Total deposits collected during the pilot phase were estimated at $115 million.

Read also:US to end visa processing at Abuja Embassy, 24 other African missions

Data from the US Department of Homeland Security indicate that countries outside the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) account for a significantly higher proportion of overstays. In 2024, non-VWP countries (excluding Mexico and Canada) recorded 269,382 B-1/B-2 overstays, representing an overstay rate of 2.06 percent, compared to 0.44 percent for VWP participating nations.

The State Department noted,
“The 2025 visa bond pilot, which provided a framework for the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of the Treasury to assess the feasibility of administering a visa bond programme, has provided sufficient data to suggest that a visa bond programme is an effective tool for enforcing compliance among bonded visa holders”.

Officials clarified that the policy aims to encourage greater cooperation from foreign governments rather than penalise individual travellers.
“This Programme responds to… and is intended to encourage foreign governments to take immediate action to reduce overstay rates by encouraging their nationals to comply with US immigration laws,” the official notice stated.

The maximum bond threshold will undergo review every seven years to adjust for inflation, starting October 1, 2027.

Ngozi Ekugo is a Senior Correspondent at BusinessDay. She holds a Masters in management from the University of Lagos, an undergraduate from University of Lagos, and is in an alumni of Queen's College. Shes currently an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM). She has a brief experience at Goldman sachs, London in its Human Capital Management division. She is interested in human capital development and is leveraging her varied experience across sectors to report labour and global mobility trends for stakeholders to make informed decisions.