WASHINGTON – In a significant policy shift, the Trump administration is expanding the list of countries whose citizens will need to pay a bond of up to $15,000 to apply for entry into the United States. This move nearly triples the number of affected countries.

Following a recent update that added seven countries to this list, bringing the total to 13, the State Department announced on Tuesday that an additional 25 countries will now be included. The bond requirement for these newly added nations is set to be enforced starting January 21, as per a notice on travel.state.gov.

With this addition, 38 countries now find themselves subject to these stringent visa requirements. The majority of these nations are in Africa, with some located in Latin America and Asia, making the cost of obtaining a U.S. visa prohibitively expensive for many.

This initiative marks the latest in a series of measures by the Trump administration aimed at tightening U.S. entry protocols. Other measures include mandatory in-person visa interviews, extensive social media history disclosures, and detailed records of applicants’ and their families’ past travel and residency.

U.S. officials justify the bond amounts, which range from $5,000 to $15,000, by arguing that they serve as a deterrent to visa overstays among citizens from the specified countries.

Payment of the bond does not guarantee a visa will be granted, but the amount will be refunded if the visa is denied or when a visa holder demonstrates they have complied with the terms of visa.

The new countries covered by the visa bond requirement as of Jan. 21 are Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Benin, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Fiji, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Nigeria, Senegal, Tajikistan, Togo, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

They join Bhutan, Botswana, the Central African Republic, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mauritania, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, Tanzania, Turkmenistan and Zambia on the list.