WASHINGTON, Aug 5, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The US State Department said Monday some visa applicants will soon be required to pay bonds of up to $15,000 to discourage visa overstays as part of President Donald Trump's crackdown on migration.

Starting later this month, the pilot program will require applicants from certain countries to pay a sum of "no less than $5,000" as collateral for the issuance of their visa.

The funds will be returned if the applicant complies with all visa terms. If the applicant remains in the United States past the deadline, the funds will be forfeited.

"Consular officers may require covered nonimmigrant visa applicants to post a bond of up to $15,000 as a condition of visa issuance," the agency said in a notice to be published Tuesday in the US Federal Register.

The 12-month program would only affect foreign nationals from countries considered to have "high visa overstay rates" based on a 2023 Department of Homeland Security report, the notice said.

Bond payments will also be required by applicants from countries "where screening and vetting information is deemed deficient," the notice added, as well as those who were granted citizenship without a residency requirement.

"The pilot reinforces the Trump Administration's commitment to enforcing US immigration laws and safeguarding US national security," a State Department spokesperson said in response to an AFP inquiry.

Neither the notice nor the spokesperson specified which countries would be impacted by the new rule.

The program, which will begin on August 20, will apply to B-1 or B-2 nonimmigrant visas, and those asked to pay bonds will have to enter and depart from the United States from a list of pre-selected airports.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump and his administration have cracked down on migration to the United States.

The State Department justified the launch of the pilot program by calling it "a key pillar of the Trump Administration's foreign policy to protect the United States from the clear national security threat posed by visa overstays."