The State Department is rolling out a new pilot program that will require some foreign visitors to the United States to pay bonds up to $15,000 for entry. 

The trial program, announced on Monday, is intended to crack down on the hundreds of thousands of visa overstays that occur every year. 

The notice from the State Department said that the 12-month pilot program will primarily impact those “who are nationals of countries identified by the Department as having high visa overstay rates” and “where screening and vetting information is deemed deficient.” 

The purpose was to address the “clear national security threat posed by visa overstays and deficient screening and vetting,” according to the State Department. 

Consular officers will be authorized to require nonimmigrant visa applicants from countries with high visa overstay rates to post a bond of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 during their time in the United States. The amount would depend on individual circumstances and official discretion. 

“The Department believes these three levels will provide consular officers discretion to require a bond in an amount that is sufficient enough to ensure the alien does not overstay, while taking into account the visa applicant’s circumstances,” the notice said. 

The Trump administration previously tried to implement a similar program in 2020, but that never took effect because of travel shutdowns triggered by the COVID pandemic. 

The new pilot program is another means to curb illegal immigration and encourage cooperation from foreign governments. 

“By its design and intention, the Pilot Program is a tool of diplomacy, intended to encourage foreign governments to take immediate action to reduce the overstay rates of their nationals when traveling to the United States for temporary visits, and to encourage countries to improve screening and vetting and the security of travel and civil documents, including in the granting of citizenship,” the notice said. 

Since 2015, the number of visa overstays has averaged in the hundreds of thousands every year, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security. The department found in 2023 that there were around 500,000 visa overstays. Countries with high levels of visa overstays included Afghanistan, Angola, Burma, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo, Eritrea, Haiti, Sudan, and Yemen.