**JAKARTA ** - The Trump administration added 25 countries this week to its visa bond requirement list, bringing the total to 38 nations whose citizens must post refundable bonds of up to $15,000 to apply for US tourist or business visas.

The expansion, announced Tuesday and taking effect January 21, nearly triples the program launched in August 2025. Most affected countries are in Africa, while the Asia Pacific region accounts for 10 countries now on the list.

South Asian travelers from Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal will need to post bonds. Central Asia saw three of its five countries added, such as Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Four Pacific island nations - Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu - also made the list.

The policy requires travelers to enter and exit only through three East Coast airports, like Boston Logan, JFK in New York, and Washington Dulles. For Pacific travelers, that requires lengthy routing across Asia and Africa to reach the designated entry points.

Latin America was also affected. Venezuela, whose former leader Nicolas Maduro was seized by US forces earlier this year, joined Cuba on the list. The Caribbean nations of Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica were also added.

“Any citizen or national traveling on a passport issued by one of these countries, who is found otherwise eligible for a B1/B2 visa, must post a bond for $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000.  The amount is determined at the time of the visa interview,” the State Department mentions in the official announcement. 

Africa accounts for 24 of the 38 countries, with newly added nations including Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Gabon, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Uganda, and Zimbabwe joining earlier additions like Tanzania, Zambia, and Malawi.

The State Department says the bonds target countries with high visa overstay rates, though critics note the policy puts travel financially out of reach for many from developing nations.

Earlier this year, Trump’s new 1 % US federal tax on cash remittances sent from the United States took effect as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, imposing the levy on cash, money orders and cashier’s checks.