The State Department is considering requiring some green card applicants to hand over thousands of dollars in the Trump administration’s latest bid to ensure new arrivals to the US can support themselves.
Some officials have floated making would-be legal permanent residents submit a $100,000 bond if applying at a US consulate overseas, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Others said the deposit amount could fluctuate depending on individual cases.
Green card holders would likely be repaid upon becoming US citizens, a process that takes at least five years.
“President Trump has made clear that those who wish to immigrate to the United States must be financially self-sufficient,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott told the Journal, confirming that the administration was exploring ways under existing law to require the bond, which could also be posted by a green card applicant’s relatives.
The proposed bond requirement would expand on a pilot program for tourist visas that has been in effect since August 2025. Initially, applicants from the African nations of Malawi and Zambia were required to post a refundable bond of up to $15,000, forfeited if they overstayed the visa or applied for another immigration status, such as asylum, after arriving.
The program has since expanded to 50 countries, more than half of which are in Africa.
Immigration advocates, like Sharvari Dalal-Dheini of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, accused the Trump administration of instituting a “pay-for-play” system. --->READ MORE HERE
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Those seeking U.S. citizenship 'must be capable of demonstrating that they will be a benefit—rather than a burden—to our nation'
The Trump administration will require that some prospective immigrants post a bond of up to $250,000 in order to obtain a U.S. visa as part of a new pilot program aimed at ensuring those who seek a new home in America have the financial means to support themselves without taxpayer handouts, the Washington Free Beacon can reveal.
The pilot bond program, which will go into effect Tuesday morning in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security, will initially apply to certain immigrants from the Dominican Republic and could expand to other nations in the future. A State Department official confirmed to the Free Beacon that American consular offices in the Caribbean nation will begin requiring certain immigrants "who have been found ineligible on public charge grounds to post a bond with [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] in order to be issued an immigrant visa." The "public charge" designation applies to those immigrants who were initially denied a visa over concerns they cannot financially support themselves and would rely on taxpayer-funded benefits.
Generally, consular offices will have discretion to set bond amounts and will assess them on a case-by-case basis that considers "the applicant’s particular circumstances." In some of the individual cases being processed this week, the bonds are being assessed in the range of $100,000 or $250,000, according to information provided by the State Department.
"As part of this comprehensive initiative," a State Department official said, "the Department is implementing a long-standing legal authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to require certain visa applicants—those who are otherwise ineligible for a visa because they are likely to become a public charge—to post a bond as a way to tangibly demonstrate they have access to the funds needed to support themselves." The State Department says these bonds will help "protect American public benefits programs from the financial burden of foreigners who arrive with major medical expenses or other needs."
The program is being implemented under existing legal authorities granted by the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows certain visa applicants who would otherwise be ineligible to post a bond "as a way to tangibly demonstrate they have access to the funds needed to support themselves," according to information provided by the State Department. The initiative comes as the Trump administration and its GOP allies attempt to stem the flow of taxpayer cash to new arrivals who entered the country with no financial resources and may seek to take advantage of government welfare programs.
"Immigrating to the United States is a privilege, not a right. Those who seek to obtain that privilege must be capable of demonstrating that they will be a benefit—rather than a burden—to our nation," the State Department official said. "The Trump Administration is restoring the basic expectation that those who immigrate to the United States should contribute to our society more than they take from it. Under Secretary Rubio’s leadership, the Department of State is putting that principle into action." --->READ MORE HERE
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