The United States requires bonds of up to $15,000 for visa applications from 12 other countries

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department says it will add 12 countries to an expanding list of countries whose citizens must post bonds of up to $15,000 to apply for U.S. visas.

From 2 April, passport holders from Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and Tunisia will be required to pay a bond, which is refunded if the visa application is rejected, or if granted, the person adheres to the terms of the visa.

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This is according to a notice published on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website on Wednesday.

After April 2, there will be 50 countries whose citizens will be subject to this requirement, which the Trump administration introduced last year as part of its crackdown on visa overstays and its broader move to curb illegal immigration.

Under the program, visa applicants from designated countries, many of which are in Africa, that have high overstay rates, must post bonds of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 depending on their circumstances and the discretion of the consular officer processing the application.

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“The Visa Bond Program has already proven effective in significantly reducing the number of visa recipients who overstay their visas and remain illegally in the United States,” the department said, adding that nearly 97% of the approximately 1,000 people who submitted bonds did not overstay their visas.

Full list of countries here.