“A bond does not guarantee the issuance of the visa,” the State Department also indicated.
MIAMI, United States. – The United States Department of State included Cuba in the list of countries whose nationals may be subject to the requirement of a bond — of 5,000, 10,000 or 15,000 dollars — as a condition to obtain B-1/B-2 visitor visas (business and tourism). The measure will enter into force on January 21, 2026 for Cuba, according to the notice published in Travel.State.Gov.
The State Department itself accurate that the obligation applies to “any citizen or national” who travels with a passport from one of the indicated countries and who, after the consular interview, is “otherwise eligible” for a B-1/B-2 visa. In that case, “you must post a bond of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000,” and the amount is determined “at the time of the interview.”
The official notice emphasizes that the bond is not equivalent to automatic approval: “A bond does not guarantee the issuance of the visa,” said the State Department, which also warned that those who pay without a consular officer having instructed them to do so will not be able to recover the money.
According to the same statement, the applicant must accept the terms of the deposit through the platform Pay.gov from the Treasury Department and submit the form I-352 of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The requirement applies “regardless of the place of application,” and the authorities recommend not using “any third-party website” for payment, since the Government “is not responsible” for funds delivered outside its systems.
As an additional condition, visa holders who have posted a bond must enter and exit the United States through three airports only: Washington Dulles (IAD), John F. Kennedy in New York (JFK) and Boston Logan (BOS). The State Department warned that failure to comply with that requirement “could lead to a denial of entry or an exit that is not properly recorded.”
The mechanism provides for automatic reimbursement in specific cases. The bond is canceled and the money is returned when DHS records departure from the country within the authorized period, when the holder does not travel before the visa expires, or when he or she requests admission at the port of entry and is denied.
Instead, the State Department reported that DHS refers cases of potential noncompliance to USCIS to determine whether there was a violation, including scenarios such as overstaying or requesting a change in immigration status, “including applying for asylum.”
With the incorporation of Cuba, the list published by the State Department remained at 38 countries with different implementation dates. On January 21st, in addition to Cuba, VenezuelaAlgeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Benin, Burundi, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Dominica, Fiji, Gabon, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Nigeria, Senegal, Tajikistan, Togo, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu and Zimbabwe.
The notice also includes countries whose implementation began on previous dates: Gambia (October 11, 2025), Mauritania and Sao Tome and Principe (October 23, 2025), Tanzania (October 23, 2025), as well as Malawi and Zambia (August 20, 2025), among others that are listed with implementation on January 1, 2026 (Bhutan, Botswana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia, Central African Republic and Turkmenistan).
According to Reutersthe expansion adds 25 countries to a policy that already existed and is part of a “pilot program” that began in August with a first group of nations, with the argument of discouraging stays that exceed the authorized period of visas for tourism or business. AP reported that the expansion almost triples the initial list and that, for many applicants, the deposit may make the process “unattainable.”
