The Trump administration is “suspending a requirement that foreign visitors from countries that have qualified for the World Cup and have bought tickets for the soccer tournament pay as much as $15,000 in bonds to enter the United States,” according to Kim & Lee of the AP. The State Department imposed the bond requirement last year for “countries that it said had high rates of people overstaying their visas and other security issues” as part of the administration’s broader crackdown on immigration. Travelers to the U.S. from 50 countries are required to pay the new bond, and five of those countries have qualified for the World Cup -- Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia. Citizens from those five countries who have purchased tickets from FIFA are “now exempt from the visa bond requirement.” Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar said that they have “opted in to the FIFA Pass system that allows expedited visa appointments as of April 15.” Kim & Lee note FIFA “requested the waiver, which had to be approved by the State Department and Department of Homeland Security.” It was the “topic of discussion” at multiple meetings at the White House and elsewhere in Washington for several months. Travelers from Ivory Coast and Senegal still face “partial restrictions under an expanded version” of the administration’s travel ban, “even without the visa bond exemption” (AP, 5/13).
Trump administration suspends bond requirement for World Cup ticket holders
