The US will require tourists from high migration-risk countries to pay a deposit of up to $15,000

From 20 August 2025, the US is launching a pilot programme under which certain foreign tourists will be required to post a bond of up to $15,000 (about €13,000) as a guarantee of timely departure once their visa expires.

This was announced by the US State Department on 4 August. The programme will run for one year and will affect citizens of countries that US authorities may designate as having "elevated migration risk" — either due to inadequate security measures or a high number of visa overstayers. A specific list of countries has not yet been published.

Depending on the situation, an applicant may be assigned a bond of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000. The funds will only be returned if the traveller leaves the US within their authorised period of stay.

The initiative is being implemented under the "Big Beautiful Bill" law, under which a "visa integrity fee" of $250 (€214) was previously introduced for everyone planning to obtain a US non-immigrant visa.

The new measure, which significantly increases the financial burden on some tourists, is intended by the authorities to reduce visa overstays and offset administrative and social costs. However, experts warn that introducing such high upfront payments could deter bona fide travellers and worsen the so-called "Trump Slump" — the ongoing decline in foreign visits to the US caused by the strict migration policy and foreign-policy moves of the Trump administration.

Amid weakening demand, transatlantic airfares have dropped sharply, and airlines have started rerouting, betting on other destinations. Entries from Canada and Mexico have fallen by double-digit percentages. Citizens of these neighbouring countries reacted especially sharply, viewing US actions as an affront to their national sovereignty — particularly after public comparisons of Canada to "the 51st state."

Representatives of the US travel industry, including companies such as Airbnb, Expedia, and Hilton, had already warned of declining figures and growing pressure on the market. In May, it emerged that the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) had presented data to Bloomberg showing the industry could lose out on $12.5 billion (€11.2 billion) in revenue in 2025.

Tourist spending is expected to fall by 7% compared with last year and by 22% compared with the 2019 peak. The US remains the only country out of 184 analysed by WTTC and Oxford Economics for which such losses are forecast. As WTTC President and CEO Julia Simpson put it, "while other countries are welcoming tourists with open arms, the US seems to be hanging up a 'closed' sign."

Nevertheless, the US Travel Association, which had previously expressed concern about declining industry employment, this time offered a more measured assessment, calling the scale of the pilot programme "limited." In its estimate, it will affect no more than 2,000 applicants from a small number of countries with low travel volumes to the US.