Five Pacific Islands Forum member states are set to be permanently included in a United States visa bond programme that will require nationals from those countries to post up to US$20,000 to be able to travel to America as a temporary visitor.
This is after the US State Department confirmed it will make permanent its ‘Visa Bond Pilot Program’, as first reported by Reuters news agency over the weekend.
The Trump administration’s visa bond programme, which includes 50-odd nations mostly from Africa, was initiated in late August 2025, to crack down on illegal visa overstayers in the US.
Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu were the five Pacific Island nations on the list.
According to the federal notice, nationals from the 50-identified countries will remain subject to the visa bond requirement under the finalised rule.
“Under the Program … 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 federal notice states.
The pilot programme required bonds of $5000, $10,000 or up to $15,000, but the final rule eliminates the $5000 option and raises the maximum bond to $20,000.
The bonds have proved to be “an effective tool for reducing overstayers”, the US government says.
Reuters reported the final rule goes into effect on 3 August when it is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register.
