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US could require up to $15,000 bonds for some tourist visas under pilot program​

From https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-could-require-up-15000-bonds-some-tourist-visas-under-pilot-program-2025-08-04/

The U.S. could require bonds of up to $15,000 for some tourist and business visas under a pilot program launching in two weeks, a government notice said on Monday, an effort that aims to crack down on visitors who overstay their visas.

The program gives U.S. consular officers the discretion to impose bonds on visitors from countries with high rates of visa overstays, according to a Federal Register notice.

Bonds could also be applied to people coming from countries where screening and vetting information is deemed insufficient, the notice said.
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President Donald Trump has made cracking down on illegal immigration a focus of his presidency, boosting resources to secure the border and arresting people in the U.S. illegally.

He issued a travel ban in June that fully or partially blocks citizens of 19 nations from entering the U.S. on national security grounds.

Trump's immigration policies have led some visitors to skip travel to the United States. Transatlantic airfares dropped to rates last seen before the COVID-19 pandemic in May and travel from Canada and Mexico to the U.S. fell by 20% year-over-year.

Effective August 20, the new visa program will last for approximately a year, the government notice said. Consular officers will have three options for visa applicants subjected to the bonds: $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000, but will generally be expected to require at least $10,000, it said.

The funds will be returned to travelers if they depart in accordance with the terms of their visas, the notice said.

A similar pilot program was launched in November 2020 during the last months of Trump's first term in office, but it was not fully implemented due to the drop in global travel associated with the pandemic, the notice said.

A State Department spokesperson listed the criteria that will be used to identify the countries that will be affected, adding that the country list may be updated.

"Countries will be identified based on high overstay rates, screening and vetting deficiencies, concerns regarding acquisition of citizenship by investment without a residency requirement, and foreign policy considerations," the spokesperson said.

The State Department was unable to estimate the number of visa applicants who could be affected by the change. Many of the countries targeted by Trump's travel ban also have high rates of visa overstays, including Chad, Eritrea, Haiti, Myanmar and Yemen.

U.S. Travel Association, which represents major tourism-related companies, estimated the "scope of the visa bond pilot program appears to be limited, with an estimated 2,000 applicants affected, most likely from only a few countries with relatively low travel volume to the United States."

Numerous countries in Africa, including Burundi, Djibouti and Togo also had high overstay rates, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data from fiscal year 2023.

A provision in a sweeping spending package passed in the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress in July also created a $250 "visa integrity fee" for anyone approved for a non-immigrant visa that could potentially be reimbursable for those who comply with visa rules. The $250 fee goes into effect on October 1.

U.S. Travel said that fee could hinder travel and said "if implemented, the U.S. will have one of, if not the highest, visitor visa fees in the world."
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UtakataNoAnnex said:
Tl,dr: I am going to spend an extra $15K for “protection money” to visit a country that still may incarcerate me without due process anyways…not!
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I’m guessing someone in the administration thought this up as an income source and not a form of surety, so I’d assume the odds of being incarcerated (and losing the bond) might actually go up.
 
zang said:
I’m guessing someone in the administration thought this up as an income source and not a form of surety, so I’d assume the odds of being incarcerated (and losing the bond) might actually go up.
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Good thing the US now has roaming for-hire personal security companies for use after you pay your tourist VISA Bond. Land of the Free!
 

Canadians with an X gender marker will now have to select male or female on Nexus travel cards after Trump order​

From https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-transgender-non-binary-x-marker-nexus-us-cbsa-trump/

This change follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order saying his government will now only recognize the male and female sex, affecting the jointly-managed Nexus program between the Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Canadians renewing their Nexus travel cards or applying for new ones to make it easier to cross the border to the U.S. must now say if they are male or female, even if they are transgender or non-binary.

The change follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order that says the American government will now only recognize the male and female sex. U.S. passports and other identity documents are no longer issued with an X gender marker.

Immigration lawyers said Canada’s decision to force non-binary or trans Canadians to choose a male or female gender designation for Nexus raises human-rights concerns and could prompt a court challenge in Canada on constitutional grounds.

The Nexus program is jointly managed by the Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection and is designed to speed up border crossings between the two countries for low-risk, preapproved travellers.

Holders of Nexus cards, which are valid for five years, can generally get through security checks more swiftly.

The U.S. is continuing to recognize Canadian passports with an X gender marker, the U.S. government has confirmed.

The CBSA said that valid Nexus cards with an X held by Canadians will also still be recognized. But when Canadians apply to renew their card or apply for a new one, they can no longer choose an X as their gender marker.

“New applicants are able to apply using a passport with the ‘X’ gender identifier, however they will be required to select ‘male’ or ‘female’ for the purposes of their NEXUS membership,” CBSA spokesperson Rebecca Purdy said.
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Sarah Mikhail of Smith Immigration law, which specializes in LGBTQ immigration, said it is “very troubling” that Canada is implementing the policy.

“What we’re seeing here is an example of the wide reach of the discriminatory policies of the Trump administration targeting trans and non-binary people, now reaching and impacting Canadian citizens as well,” she said.

Gemma Hickey, who is non-binary and was one of the first people in Canada to have X as their gender marker on their passport, said forcing non-binary people to choose a male or female gender to get a Nexus card has “serious implications” for Canada’s transgender community.

The advocate questioned why Ottawa agreed to a policy that affects Canadians’ human rights.

“Our lives are being impacted significantly since Trump came into office - even Canadians,” they said. “It’s putting people in an impossible position.”

Between January, 2022, and March, approximately 550 Nexus applications were submitted with X as the gender identifier, the CBSA said.

Canada’s Nexus card policy change followed Mr. Trump’s executive order that took effect in February, the CBSA confirmed.

Immigration lawyer Maureen Silcoff said the policy meant that a non-binary traveller who wants a Nexus card “either has to accede to the gender specification or they have to choose to be excluded from the Nexus option.”

“The U.S. policy is clearly at odds with the Canadian policy on gender identity,” she added.

Yameena Ansari, who represents Hannah Kreager, a young transgender American woman who has lodged an asylum claim in Canada, said “let’s call this Nexus policy what it is – a rollback of the rights of non-binary Canadians – and it’s unconstitutional."
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She said Section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees equal protection under the law without discrimination, including with regard to gender.

“The Canadian government forcing a non-binary individual to misgender themselves on a government-issued document flies in the face of Section 15 of the Charter, meaning that a person or organization could sue the government, asking for the Nexus policy to be struck down,” she said.

E-mails between Global Affairs officials obtained in an access to information request by researcher Ken Rubin show that earlier this year public servants discussed whether to issue a travel advisory to Canadians with an X gender marker on the Nexus changes.

But the current travel advisory to the U.S. does not mention the changes.
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A number of U.S. jurisdictions allow nonbinary gender markers on state identification documents, including birth certificates and driver's licenses.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_recognition_of_non-binary_gender

From 2022 through January 20, 2025, an X option was also available on U.S. passports. U.S. federal documents no longer offer a nonbinary marker, and passport applications requesting the marker have been suspended. Previously issued U.S. passports using the gender marker "X" remain valid until their expiration date.
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I've always maintained it's not the trans/non-binary people that are the issue, it's transphobes. Perhaps legislation should be made to go after them instead...
 
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UtakataNoAnnex said:
I've always maintained it's not the trans/non-binary people that are the issue, it's transphobes. Perhaps legislation should be made to go after them instead...
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True. But NEXUS is administered by the US Customs and Border Patrol, and unfortunately the US Federal government gets to make rules regarding NEXUS (as far as I can see). I think it's terrible, and incredibly harmful to a small segment of the population, but the current US Administration seems to revel in cruelty
 
Monarch Butterfly said:

Canadians with an X gender marker will now have to select male or female on Nexus travel cards after Trump order​

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I read that as “X chromosome” and thought that the Trump administration would completely lack the basic knowledge to understand why that would be stupid.
 
Monarch Butterfly said:

Canadians with an X gender marker will now have to select male or female on Nexus travel cards after Trump order​

From https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-transgender-non-binary-x-marker-nexus-us-cbsa-trump/

This change follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order saying his government will now only recognize the male and female sex, affecting the jointly-managed Nexus program between the Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
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The lawyers and advocates can stomp their feet all they want, but the end point of a successful Charter challenge would be the elimination of the Nexus program. Canada is just a facilitating entry point for one element of the US 'Trusted Traveler Program'.
 
lenaitch said:
The lawyers and advocates can stomp their feet all they want, but the end point of a successful Charter challenge would be the elimination of the Nexus program. Canada is just a facilitating entry point for one element of the US 'Trusted Traveler Program'.
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Hence my comment quoted below:
PL1 said:
True. But NEXUS is administered by the US Customs and Border Patrol, and unfortunately the US Federal government gets to make rules regarding NEXUS (as far as I can see). I think it's terrible, and incredibly harmful to a small segment of the population, but the current US Administration seems to revel in cruelty
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Indeed, application for NEXUS is done through a US CBP website with a .gov domain. Canada (as @lenaitch states) is a facilitating party. I have a pending approval that I'm contemplating completing, but with the current situation in the US....
 
PL1 said:
Hence my comment quoted below:

Indeed, application for NEXUS is done through a US CBP website with a .gov domain. Canada (as @lenaitch states) is a facilitating party. I have a pending approval that I'm contemplating completing, but with the current situation in the US....
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It's disturbing how the Trump creep is working it's way into our policies to "facilitate" our dealings with them. This is the exact thing I fear for "better" trade deals that can be wavered on a fevered whim...

...at the end of the day, it's just not worth sitting down to the dinner table with them. And besides jobs will never be forthcoming with a jurisdiction that is hell bent on destroying it's own economy to grind axes. Best we go at it on our own however we can while keeping our civil liberties intact, IMO.
 
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