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# The US Travel Industry Expects the Visa Bond to Reach Every Country That Needs a Visa. No Caribbean State Is Exempt.
- URL: https://www.lacaribenanews.com/us-travel-association-visa-bond-expansion-caribbean-exposure-2026/
- Published: 2026-08-15T03:38:25.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-15T03:38:33.000Z
- Description: The head of the US Travel Association says the bond may be extended to every country whose nationals need a visa. Not one Caribbean state is in the Visa Waiver Program.
- Author: Theon Alleyne
- Tags: caribbean, Analysis

**Quick summary:** Geoff Freeman, head of the US Travel Association, told Reuters on 12 August 2026 that the American visa bond may be extended to every country whose nationals require a visa, and that this would be extraordinarily detrimental. No Caribbean country is in the Visa Waiver Program, so every one of them falls inside the scope he described.

By La Caribeña News · 15 August 2026

Four Caribbean countries pay the United States visa bond today. On the expansion the American travel industry says it is expecting, all of them would.

Geoff Freeman, President and Chief Executive of the US Travel Association, told Reuters on 12 August that the programme may not stop at the fifty countries it now covers. "There are already rumblings of expanding this program to additional countries where visas are required, perhaps all countries where visas are required," he said, adding that such a move "would have an extraordinarily detrimental effect on the US economy, on the travel industry."

That sentence has a precise consequence in this region, and it is not one the wire coverage drew.

## Which Caribbean countries are in the Visa Waiver Program?

None of them.

The waiver programme covers around forty countries whose nationals may travel to the United States for business or tourism without a visa. It is made up of European states, a group of Asian economies, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Israel and Qatar.

The Department of Homeland Security's own accounting settles the point without argument. Its annual overstay report divides business and pleasure visitors into two tables. Table 2 covers travellers from waiver countries. Table 3 covers everyone else. **Every Caribbean state appears in Table 3.** Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago are listed there because their nationals require visas.

So the category Freeman described, all countries where visas are required, contains the entire Caribbean.

## What is already in force?

A bond of up to US$20,000, on four Caribbean states.

The Department of State made the programme permanent in [a final rule published on 3 August](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/03/2026-15726/visas-visa-bond-program?ref=lacaribenanews.com), converting [a pilot](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/08/05/2025-14826/visas-visa-bond-pilot-program?ref=lacaribenanews.com) that had run since August 2025\. A covered applicant for a visitor visa posts **US$10,000, US$15,000 or US$20,000**, set by the consular officer, refundable on compliance. The pilot range was US$5,000 to US$15,000.

Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba and Dominica were covered from 6 January this year. Grenada followed on 2 April.

The bond also carries a travel condition that reaches beyond money. A bonded traveller must arrive in and depart from the United States by commercial air, through an American port of entry or a Customs and Border Protection preclearance location. Charter aviation, general aviation, land borders and seaports are excluded.

Neither rule names a single country. The covered list is published on the Department's website, amendable on rolling notice, with fifteen days for additions and immediate effect for removals. Expansion therefore requires no new regulation, no consultation and no notice beyond a fortnight.

## What would expansion cost the region?

The largest exposures are the countries not yet covered.

Set the current list against the travel volumes in the same Homeland Security table, and the scale of what an expansion would touch becomes visible.

| Country                          | Expected departures, FY2024 | Overstay rate | Visa bond |
| -------------------------------- | --------------------------- | ------------- | --------- |
| Dominican Republic               | 506,640                     | 3.01%         | no        |
| Jamaica                          | 308,173                     | 3.43%         | no        |
| Bahamas                          | 299,354                     | 0.89%         | no        |
| Trinidad and Tobago              | 175,585                     | 0.62%         | no        |
| Guyana                           | 73,123                      | 4.00%         | no        |
| Haiti                            | 64,345                      | 24.84%        | no        |
| Barbados                         | 51,015                      | 0.50%         | no        |
| Belize                           | 36,888                      | 3.13%         | no        |
| Saint Lucia                      | 16,957                      | 1.63%         | no        |
| **Antigua and Barbuda**          | **16,706**                  | **1.30%**     | **yes**   |
| **Grenada**                      | **14,693**                  | **1.77%**     | **yes**   |
| Suriname                         | 13,217                      | 31.14%        | no        |
| **Cuba**                         | **13,124**                  | **6.96%**     | **yes**   |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis            | 11,920                      | 1.31%         | no        |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 11,411                      | 2.44%         | no        |
| **Dominica**                     | **7,368**                   | **4.29%**     | **yes**   |

The four countries currently bonded account for **51,891** expected departures. The twelve that are not account for **1,568,867**, roughly thirty times as many. Trinidad and Tobago alone sends more than three times the four combined, at the lowest overstay rate but one in the region.

At the middle bond of US$15,000, a single Jamaican family of four applying for visitor visas would be asked for US$60,000 held in United States dollars before travel.

## Does the stated criterion sort the region?

It does not, and that is on the department's own table.

The rule's first criterion is the overstay rate. Antigua and Barbuda is bonded at 1.30 per cent. Saint Kitts and Nevis, at 1.31 per cent, is not. Both Antigua and Grenada sit below the **2.33 per cent** average the report calculates across all non-waiver countries. Guyana at 4.00 per cent, Jamaica at 3.43 and Suriname at 31.14 carry no bond at all.

What the four bonded Caribbean states have in common is not their overstay record. Three of them sell citizenship, and [the rules name that ground in terms](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/us-visa-bond-caribbean-overstay-rates-cbi-designations-2026/). The pilot provided for bonds where screening is deficient or where an applicant obtained citizenship by investment with no residency requirement. The permanent rule lists the security of civil documents "including in the granting of citizenship".

An expansion to every visa-required country would sever that link. It would reach states with no citizenship programme, no adverse overstay finding and, in the case of Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, rates among the lowest in the hemisphere.

## What is the department's own account of the purpose?

Diplomacy, in the rule's words rather than anyone else's.

The Department invoked the foreign affairs function to publish without notice and comment. It describes the bonds as "a diplomatic tool to encourage foreign governments to take immediate action" and the programme as "a fundamental tool of diplomacy and national security, serving as a primary mechanism to manage bilateral relations and incentivize foreign governments" to cooperate on departures and information sharing.

On results it says only that countries subject to the pilot "significantly reduced the number of their visa overstays", without attaching a figure.

A measure defended as leverage does not need a threshold to be extended. It needs a reason to keep it.

Washington has reached into this hemisphere through visas before, including [against the individual directors of a company over a commercial decision](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/huawei-visa-warning-calf-neuquen-caribbean-telecoms-boards-2026/), and the region has been [counting what its passports open and close](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/guyana-passport-visa-free-countries-2026/) for some time. Regional exporters already negotiate [trade agreements they cannot easily read](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/colombia-caricom-trade-agreement-industrial-tariffs-2026/) without adding a five-figure deposit to the cost of attending a meeting.

### The data in this article

- Geoff Freeman, President and Chief Executive of the US Travel Association, told Reuters on 12 August 2026 that there are "rumblings of expanding this program to additional countries where visas are required, perhaps all countries where visas are required", and that this "would have an extraordinarily detrimental effect on the US economy, on the travel industry".
- Visas: Visa Bond Program, final rule, 91 FR 48757, published 3 August 2026, converting the pilot at 90 FR 37378 of 5 August 2025\. Fifty countries covered.
- Bond of US$10,000, US$15,000 or US$20,000, set by the consular officer unless waived, refundable on compliance. Pilot range was US$5,000 to US$15,000.
- Caribbean states covered: Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba and Dominica from 6 January 2026; Grenada from 2 April 2026.
- Travel condition: arrival and departure by commercial air only, through a United States port of entry or a Customs and Border Protection preclearance location. Charter aviation, general aviation, land borders and seaports excluded.
- Neither rule names any country. The list is published on the Department of State's website, amendable on rolling notice, with fifteen days for additions and immediate effect for removals.
- No Caribbean state is in the Visa Waiver Program. Every Caribbean country appears in Table 3 of the Department of Homeland Security Entry/Exit Overstay Report, which covers non-waiver countries.
- Expected departures, fiscal year 2024: Dominican Republic 506,640; Jamaica 308,173; Bahamas 299,354; Trinidad and Tobago 175,585; Guyana 73,123; Haiti 64,345; Barbados 51,015; Belize 36,888; Saint Lucia 16,957; Antigua and Barbuda 16,706; Grenada 14,693; Suriname 13,217; Cuba 13,124; Saint Kitts and Nevis 11,920; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 11,411; Dominica 7,368.
- The four bonded Caribbean states account for 51,891 expected departures; the twelve uncovered account for 1,568,867.
- Overstay rates, same table: Suriname 31.14, Haiti 24.84, Cuba 6.96, Dominica 4.29, Guyana 4.00, Jamaica 3.43, Belize 3.13, Dominican Republic 3.01, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2.44, Grenada 1.77, Saint Lucia 1.63, Saint Kitts and Nevis 1.31, Antigua and Barbuda 1.30, Bahamas 0.89, Trinidad and Tobago 0.62, Barbados 0.50 per cent. Non-waiver average 2.33 per cent.
- The Department describes the bonds as "a diplomatic tool to encourage foreign governments to take immediate action" and "a fundamental tool of diplomacy and national security". On the pilot it states only that covered countries "significantly reduced the number of their visa overstays", with no figure.

## Frequently Asked Questions

**What did the US Travel Association actually say?** Its President and Chief Executive, Geoff Freeman, told Reuters on 12 August 2026 that there are rumblings of extending the bond to additional countries where visas are required, perhaps all of them, and that this would be extraordinarily detrimental to the American economy and travel industry.

**Which Caribbean countries pay the bond now?** Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba and Dominica since 6 January 2026, and Grenada since 2 April 2026\. They are four of fifty countries covered.

**Would an expansion reach the rest of the Caribbean?** On the scope Freeman described, yes. No Caribbean country is in the Visa Waiver Program, so every one of them requires a visa and would fall within a programme extended to all visa-required countries.

**How much travel would that affect?** The four countries currently bonded accounted for 51,891 expected departures in fiscal 2024\. The twelve Caribbean countries not covered accounted for 1,568,867, roughly thirty times as many.

**How quickly could a country be added?** Neither the pilot nor the permanent rule names any country. The list sits on the Department of State's website and may be amended on a rolling basis, with additions taking effect after fifteen days and removals taking effect immediately.

**Does the overstay rate explain the current list?** Not in this region. Antigua and Barbuda is bonded at 1.30 per cent while Saint Kitts and Nevis at 1.31 per cent is not, and both Antigua and Grenada sit below the 2.33 per cent non-waiver average, while Guyana at 4.00 per cent and Suriname at 31.14 per cent are not covered.