“The administration of Donald Trump has expanded the list of countries whose citizens must pay a deposit of up to $15,000 in order to apply for an entry visa to the United States: seven more countries have been added to it, so in total there are already 13 in the list.â, â write: www.pravda.com.ua
Illustrative photo: Getty Images Source: “European truth” with reference to AP
Details: Thirteen countries are currently on the list, all but two of which are in Africa, making the US visa process out of reach for many.
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Last week, the State Department quietly added Bhutan, Botswana, Central African Republic, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia and Turkmenistan to the list. Those updates took effect Jan. 1, according to a notice posted on the travel.state.gov website.
It’s the latest initiative by the Trump administration to tighten entry requirements for the US, including requiring citizens of all visa-requiring countries to pass an in-person interview and provide information about their social media activity over the past few years, as well as details about their family’s previous travel and living arrangements.
U.S. officials defend the pledges, which can range from $5,000 to $15,000, saying they are effective in ensuring that citizens of targeted countries do not overstay their visas.
Paying a deposit does not guarantee a visa, but it will be refunded if the visa is refused or when the visa holder demonstrates that he has complied with the conditions of the visa.
The new countries subject to the requirement join Mauritania, SĂŁo TomĂŠ and PrĂncipe, Tanzania, Gambia, Malawi and Zambia, which were added to the list in August and October last year.
We will remind:
- The Trump administration imposed visa sanctions against former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton and four others for trying to force US tech companies to monitor political speech on their platforms.
- The European Commission and, separately, the chief diplomat of the EU, Kaya Callas condemned this is the solution.
- The EU and the White House have repeatedly clashed over free speech and technology regulation. In early December, the X social network, which has been owned by the American billionaire Elon Musk in recent years, was fined 120 million euros for violating the EU law on content moderation.