US drops bond requirement for World Cup ticket holders

WASHINGTON, May 13 : The Trump administration will not require World Cup ticket holders from countries flagged for high rates of visa overstays to pay expensive bonds to enter the United States, a U.S. State Department official said on Wednesday.

The administration last year began requiring visitors from some countries to pay bonds of up to $15,000 to obtain tourist visas to the U.S., saying the steep deposit was needed to prevent visa overstays. Fifty countries are currently subject to the bond requirement, which was expanded this year.

Five of the 50 countries subject to the visa bonds qualified to participate in the World Cup: Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia.

Mora Namdar, the top official in the State Department's consular affairs division, said the U.S. would waive the bond requirement for ticket-holding fans who had already registered through a special system to expedite their visa processing. Qualifying team members and staff can also have the bonds waived, Namdar said.

"We remain committed to strengthening U.S. national security priorities while facilitating legitimate travel for the upcoming World Cup tournament," she said in a statement.

The Associated Press first reported the news.

The World Cup, one of the globe's biggest sporting events, will be held in June and July this year across three countries - the United States, Canada and Mexico. 

U.S. President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown has already cast a pall over the event and raised concerns about the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. 

Last year masked federal agents surged into U.S. cities to track down immigration offenders and ​detained some tourists at airports.

The advocacy group Human Rights