Likelihood of US visa bonds for Jamaicans low…really?
/ Our Today
administrator
Jamaican non-immigrant travellers to the United States will have to wait and see if they could soon find themselves in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump’s looming visa bond pilot programme.
Effective August 20, the US Department of State stipulated that nationals from Malawi and Zambia who are otherwise eligible for a B1/B2 (non-immigrant) visa must now post a bond up to US$15,000, which consular officers would determine at the time of visa interview.
Spurred on by Trump’s “anti-invasion” Executive Order 14159, which he signed on his first day back in the White House in January, the State Department declared it would amend the list of countries as necessary “with 15 days from announcement to enactment”.
The decision was influenced by visa overstay rates attributed to the two African countries, which the Department of Homeland Security determined were 14.4 per cent and 10.45 per cent, respectively.
“Under the pilot programme… visa bonds may be required from certain applicants for B1/B2 visas who are nationals of countries identified by the Department of State as having high visa overstay rates, where screening and vetting information is deemed deficient or, if the alien obtained citizenship with no residency requirement,” an August 5 statement read on the Bureau of Consular Affairs’ website.
Questions have been raised about the selection criteria utilised by the State Department, as several other countries, including Chad and Laos, recorded vastly loftier visa overstay rates than Malawi and Zambia.
The move could spell disaster if Jamaica were placed in such dubious company, which already boasts a high visa overstay rate among Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states.
At around 5.11 per cent, the island has the third-highest suspected visa overstay figures in the United States, behind Guyana and Haiti.
Full Caribbean breakdown, recent up to the FY 2023 Entry/Exit Overstay report released by US Customs and Border Protection:
| Country | Suspected US overstay rate |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 1.24% |
| Bahamas | 1.27% |
| Barbados | 0.43% |
| Belize | 3.41% |
| Cuba | 7.52% |
| Dominica | 3.52% |
| Dominican Republic | 4.52% |
| Grenada | 1.75% |
| Guyana | 5.39% |
| Haiti | 31.06% |
| Jamaica | 5.11% |
| Saint Kitts & Nevis | 1.22% |
| Saint Lucia | 1.83% |
| Saint Vincent & the Grenadines | 3.00% |
| Suriname | 3.36% |
| Trinidad & Tobago | 0.70% |
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