The US State Department announced this Wednesday (18) that it will require a deposit of US$15,000 from applicants for business and tourism visas (B1 and B2) starting April 2. In total, the measure will affect 50 countries and Brazil was initially left out of the list.
The republican administration justified that the amount will be refunded to beneficiaries who comply with the visa conditions and return to their countries before the document expires. The money will be used to cover the costs of deportation proceedings for those who remain in the US beyond the permitted period, the ministry said.
The State Department estimates that deporting an immigrant costs, on average, more than $18,000. With the new system, the government claims it will save American taxpayers up to $800 million a year.
The new action by Donald Trump’s administration is part of a series of policies implemented since the beginning of his term to reduce the arrival of migrants to the US, which also includes visa bans and restrictions on asylum.
See list of countries affected by the new measure
- Algeria
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bangladesh
- Mine
- Bhutan
- botswana
- Burundi
- Cape Verde
- Cambodia
- Ivory Coast
- Cuba
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Granada
- Guinea and Guinea-Bissau
- Lesoto
- Malawi
- Mauritius
- Mauritania
- Mongolia
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Nigeria
- Papua New Guinea
- Kyrgyzstan
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Tonga
- Tunisia
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
