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Bangladesh is among 38 countries in the world whose citizens will have to pay a visa bond of US$ 5,000-15,000 for a B1/B2 (business and tourist) visa for the United States.
On Monday, the US embassy in Dhaka asked Bangladeshi applicants not to pay any bond before attending their interview, as a new requirement for B1/B2 (business and tourist) visas comes into force from Wednesday. “Do not pay your bond before your interview. Paying early does not guarantee a visa, and third-party websites can be scams,” it said. “Any payment made before the interview is not refundable. The bond will be returned if the terms of the visa are respected,” it added.
Under the new rule, Bangladeshi nationals approved for B1/B2 visas may be required to deposit a visa bond of up to $15,000. This will take effect from January 21, and will not apply to holders of valid B1/B2 visas issued before that date.
The US recently updated a list of countries whose citizens may be required to pay a visa bond for business and tourist travel, adding Bangladesh to the list.
Depending on the assessment at the visa interview, eligible applicants may have to pay a bond of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000. Applicants will need to agree to the bond conditions and make payments through the US Treasury Department’s online platform, pay.gov. The bond amount will be determined at the time of the interview and is refundable if the visa is refused or if the applicant complies with all visa conditions, including leaving the US within the authorised period.
Bangladesh Foreign Advisor Touhid Hossain has described Dhaka’s inclusion in the list as “very painful and unfortunate” but said it was not unexpected. “This decision is not limited to Bangladesh alone; several countries are included,” he said. “Those facing immigration problems are on the list. US statistics show Bangladeshis top the list of people drawing money from the social system there. So Bangladesh being included does not seem abnormal to me.”
Among South Asian countries, Nepal and Bhutan are also on the list. Others are mostly from the Global South — including countries from Africa, Latin America and Central Asia.
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Days after Dhaka was added to the non-immigrant visa bond list, the US government announced another restrictive move, declaring on Wednesday that immigrant visa processing for citizens of 75 countries, including Bangladesh and Pakistan, would be suspended from January 21. The visa bond initiative for business and tourist visas is a pilot project aimed at preventing overstays. The Donald Trump administration has said the programme will run from August 20, 2025, to August 5 this year.
According to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), 38,590 Bangladeshis entered the US on business and tourist visas in the 2024 fiscal year. Of these, 2,213 overstayed their visas, accounting for 5.73% of the total. Among the overstayers, 51 later left the US, while no departure records were found for 2,162 people, classified as suspected in-country overstays, representing 5.60%. By comparison, the suspected in-country overstay rate for non-Visa Waiver Programme countries overall was 2.22% in the same fiscal year. In the 2023 fiscal year, the overstay rate for Bangladeshi B1/B2 visa holders stood at 6.86 %.
