Will Pakistanis face the $15,000 US visa bond from April 2?

The United States is expanding its controversial visa bond policy from April 2, requiring applicants from 50 countries to deposit up to $15,000 when applying for business or tourist visas.

However, Pakistanis are NOT included in this visa bond list, at least for now.

The new expansion adds 12 countries, including Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Tunisia, to an existing list of 38 nations, most of them in Africa.

Earlier lists also included countries like Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Nepal, but Pakistan has not been named in any of the visa bond program lists so far.

The visa bond ​program has ⁠reduced the number of people who overstay their visas, the State Department official said.

Previously, 38 nations were included in the list that the US is bringing for a fresh wave of the US visa rules. These countries include Algeria, Antigua, Angola, and Bangladesh, Barbuda, Benin, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Burundi, Bhutan, Central ⁠African ​Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Fiji, Gabon, ​The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Mauritania, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Tuvalu, Senegal, Tanzania, ​Togo, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Tonga, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.