Washington applies a new visa policy for Malawi and Zambia

The nationals of Malawi and Zambia who wish to go to the United States with business or tourist visas will have to pay a deposit of up to $ 15,000 (almost 13,000 euros), the State Department said on Tuesday, August 5. This decision, which will come into force on August 20, is part of a one-year pilot project of the Trump administration which aims to ensure that visa seekers do not remain in the United States beyond the authorized duration of their stay.

“This targeted and common sense measure is strengthening the administration’s commitment to the US immigration law while dissuading overruns of length of stay”commented the spokesperson for the State Department, Tammy Bruce in front of the press.

In a notice announcing the new policy, the State Department had mentioned on Monday that this pilot project concerned the “Nationals of countries identified by the State Department as having high rates of exceeding the authorized length of stay” or those whose “Control and verification information is deemed insufficient”at the discretion of consular agents. But Washington had not identified these countries, the first two of which will therefore be Malawi and Zambia, two poor and landlocked countries in southern Africa.

In recent months, the American president, Donald Trump, has implemented a hardening of the conditions for granting visas for many countries, including African, against the backdrop of anti-immigration offensive in Washington.