African nations slam 'racist' US visa restrictions
Publish date: 11 August 2025
Issue Number: 1138
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: International
The new US visa restrictions, including the announcement of its latest higher bond fees for citizens from certain African countries, have been denounced as 'pure racism' and an 'extortion paywall' as leaders bemoan the economic impact amid attempts to negotiate with President Donald Trump's administration, notes Legalbrief. On Friday, the US halted all routine visa applications for Zimbabwean citizens, making this the latest in a series of travel restrictions impacting African nations, reports The Independent. This follows a pilot scheme unveiled days earlier, requiring travellers from Malawi and Zambia to pay a bond of up to $15 000 for tourist or business visas. This sum will be forfeited if the applicant remains in the US beyond their visa's expiry date. The State Department said the US Embassy in Zimbabwe would pause all routine visa services 'while we address concerns with the Government of Zimbabwe'. The embassy described the measure as temporary and part of the Trump administration's efforts to 'prevent visa overstay and misuse'. Most diplomatic and official visas would be exempt from the pause, the US said. The US has enforced new travel restrictions on citizens from several African countries under Trump's broader immigration enforcement policies.
According to a PBS report, in the fiscal year 2023, numerous countries in Africa recorded the highest overstay rates for people visiting on B-1 and B-2 visas, a Department of Homeland Security Overstay Report found. Many of the countries targeted by Trump’s travel ban, including Chad and Eritrea, also have high rates of visa overstays. Bond amounts will be set by consular officers who will also consider an applicant’s 'personal circumstances', including their reason for travel, employment, income, skills and education. Consular officers will be able to request waivers in limited circumstances, the department said, such as travel for US Government employees or urgent humanitarian needs. Trump’s State Department tried a visa bonds programme in 2020, but it was not fully implemented because of a decrease in global travel during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Zambia on Friday expressed 'serious concern' at the new US measure, reports TRT Afrika. The measure announced last Tuesday, which also applies to nationals of Malawi, takes effect on 20 August as part of a one-year pilot project also aimed at reducing visa overstays in the US, where Trump's administration is cracking down on immigration. 'The Zambian Government views this development with serious concern, given its potential economic implications on trade, investment, tourism and people-to-people exchanges,' Foreign Minister Mulambo Haimbe said. The new requirement would cause 'unnecessary financial strain' on Zambians, he said. The US has said that the bond – ranging between $5 000 and $15 000 and determined during a visa interview – will be returned if the applicant complies with the terms of their visa. If the applicant remains in the US past the deadline, the funds will be forfeited. 'The pilot programme does not foster or engender the deepening of bilateral relations, but rather, it is counter to the spirit of mutual beneficial relations between the two sovereign states,' Haimbe said. He added that the Zambian Government had approached Washington to discuss the measure.
Malawi and Zambia were the inaugural entries on the list of countries that the US will subject to visa bonds, reports Al Jazeera. In its breakdown of country-by-country overstay rates, a report indicated that both Malawi and Zambia had relatively high visa overstay rates, at 14.3 and 11.1%, respectively. But Malawi and Zambia are both smaller countries with relatively few tourism- or business-related arrivals in the US. Critics have pointed out that the newly imposed bonds put travel to the US – already a pricey prospect – further out of reach for residents of poorer countries. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an advocacy group, was among those that denounced the new bond scheme as discriminatory. ‘This is not about national security,’ said Robert McCaw, CAIR’s government affairs director. ‘It’s about weaponising immigration policy to extort vulnerable visitors, punish disfavoured countries, and turn America’s welcome mat into a paywall.’
In June, the US introduced restrictions and limited entry by citizens from, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, reports BusinessLIVE. South Africa, however, has not yet been affected by Trump’s sweeping visa restrictions on countries in the Southern African Development Community. South African professor Anthoni van Nieuwkerk said: ‘There are members of Congress in America who want to review the relationship with SA. They see SA as an unfriendly country.' He added that the restrictions on Zimbabwe are likely to affect the professional class negatively. ‘It is a tragic situation. I do not think the professionals who travel for work from Zimbabwe, Asian countries and other countries should be targeted and punished in this manner.’ Wits University proessor John Stremlau said the restrictions on Zimbabwe were a sign of worsening ties between the two countries under Trump. The US under different administrations had bans on Zimbabwean politicians and businesses. 'It is getting worse under Trump. Maybe it will change under a successor but there is an anti-immigration psychology among a lot of voters in America and Europe.' He described the US travel restrictions as 'pure and simple racism. It is targeting people of colour. The descendants of the British Empire are welcome'.
