The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 12 countries including Cambodia are being added to a list that already comprises 38 other nations, largely in Africa.
The expanded visa bond programme, which requires those foreign nationals to pay $15,000 for a B1 or B2 visa for business and tourism, goes into effect on April 2. The aim is to prevent visitors from overstaying their visas, the official said.
The new nations included in the visa bond programme are Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, and Tunisia.
The official said bonds will be returned to visa recipients who return home in compliance with the terms of the visa and the bond, or do not travel in the first place.
Since taking office last January, Trump has pursued a hard-line immigration policy, including an aggressive deportation drive, revocations of visas and green cards, and screens of social media posts and past speeches of immigrants.
The State Department official said the visa bond programme has reduced the number of people who overstay their visas.
The 38 nations on the previous list are composed of Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Fiji, Gabon, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Mauritania, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
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