The State Department has added Grenada to a list of dozens of countries whose citizens must lodge a sizable bond to apply for a tourist visa to the US.
Announced on Wednesday, Grenada now joins fellow Eastern Caribbean neighbors Antigua and Dominica, whose citizens are now subjected to the tough new restrictions imposed by the department.
The restrictions for Grenada will kick into force on April 2 and will compel applicants to lodge $5000-$15,000 through a digital portal in order to apply. The money will be returned to those approved for B1-B2 visa holders upon their return to the country in the stipulated time, the announcement stated.
Grenadian officials have not yet reacted to the developments, but the moves come just weeks after regional leaders had forcefully raised fast changing visa and travel issues with Secretary of State Marco Rubio during last month’s leaders conference in St. Kitts.
While announcing the restrictions on Dominica and Antigua late last year, the department had blasted relatively high rates of visa overstays and the alleged discomfort of the US and other western nations with counties which sell local citizenship and passports to foreigners for a fee, allowing them to travel as locals and gaining access to countries which alllow for visa-free entry to Europe and other destinations.
The new countries added to the pariah list, first published earlier this year, include Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and Tunisia.
The latest developments come also as the Trump administration is exerting severe pressure on regional countries to cooperate with the US in a number of controversial areas, including accepting deportees who don’t want to be returned home. Member nations have been pushed into negotiating so-called third country deportees who are being kicked out for non-violent crimes like visa overstays. None have yet announced formal receiving contracts with Washington.
