WASHINGTON, January 7. /Dunyo IA/.  The U.S. administration has added 25 more countries to the list of states whose citizens may be required to pay a deposit of up to $15,000 when applying for entry into the United States, reports Dunyo IA correspondent, citing the official website of the U.S. State Department.

The new countries added to the visa deposit requirement list, effective January 21 this year, include Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Benin, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Fiji, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Nigeria, Senegal, Tajikistan, Togo, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.

This addition increases the total number of countries to 38, mostly in Africa, as well as in South America and Asia, whose citizens may face a sharp increase in visa costs under the administration’s broader strategy to limit both legal and illegal immigration.

The countries already on the list include Bhutan, Botswana, the Central African Republic, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mauritania, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tanzania, Turkmenistan, and Zambia.

The U.S. State Department explains that the deposits are intended to prevent visitors from overstaying their visas, citing the Department of Homeland Security’s 2024 report on estimated visa overstay rates by country.

Applicants from the affected countries will be required to pay a deposit ranging from $5,000 to $15,000, which will be determined during the visa interview.

Approved visa holders will only be allowed to enter the U.S. through one of three airports: Boston Logan International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, or Washington Dulles International Airport.

The State Department emphasizes that paying the deposit does not guarantee visa issuance, and fees paid without approval from an immigration officer are non-refundable.

The program expansion follows a pilot project launched by the State Department in August, which required some visa applicants from countries with high overstay rates and insufficient document security measures to pay a deposit.

It should be recalled that the White House administration last year implemented numerous changes to immigration policy, affecting travel procedures, visa issuance, and citizenship acquisition in the U.S., with some measures scheduled to take effect in 2026.