US forcing some Pacific visitors to pay up to $27k bond

Clients never used to cry in Alisi Mo'ungaloa Afu's office, but it's not uncommon these days.

"Some people have cried because they weren't able to travel to funerals," she said.

Mrs Mo'ungaloa Afu is a Tonga-based travel agent who has spent 15 years helping locals navigate the United States visa process.

Many Tongans have family in the US and travel there to attend weddings, funerals or reunite with loved ones.

Mrs Mo'ungaloa Afu helps clients prepare application forms, pay fees and schedule and prepare interviews with a consulate officer.

For Tongans, it is an expensive process.

The US embassy in Tonga doesn't offer visa application services, so applicants usually have to travel to nearby Fiji for their visa interview, which involves additional travel costs and time away from work.

An interview does not guarantee a visa, nor is the $US185 ($260) visa application fee refundable.

At the start of this year, a pilot US Visa Bond Program was introduced, under which applicants from Tonga and 37 other countries had to pay a bond of between $US5,000 ($7,000) and $US15,000 before a visa can be issued.

The program is aimed at curbing "overstays" and applies to non-immigrant applicants seeking B1 and B2 visas, which are the primary visas issued for business and tourism travel in Tonga.

The amount depended on the applicant's "personal circumstances" and is refundable if the traveller meets all visa conditions.

However, that bond has now become even more expensive, increasing to a range of $US10,000 to $US20,000 after the pilot project was made permanent on August 3.

Passport holders from 50 countries, including Tonga, Fiji, Tuvalu and Papua New Guinea, are subject to the program.

The rules also apply to nationals of those countries living in Australia.

This means Tongans or Fijians who are permanent residents of Australia could still be subject to the bond if they apply for a US visa using their Pacific Island passport.

The US State Department states the requirement applies "regardless of place of application".

'$US20k is what someone makes in a year'

Tonga's prime minister, Lord Fakafanua, said the program being made permanent was very disappointing, and he would look at diplomatic solutions to have the restrictions alleviated.

"It's very close to home because of our large diaspora in places like California, Hawaii and Utah and we are actively working on remedying it," he said.

About 78,000 people are part of the Tongan diaspora in the US, according to the most recent US census.

Mrs Mo'ungaloa Afu's mother and siblings are among that figure, as are the friends and relatives of the 500 to 600 clients she typically helps each year.

She said business had "plummeted" after the pilot bond program was introduced in January because many of her clients couldn't afford the application fee, travel cost, and the bond.

She said none of her clients had travelled to the US since.

"We have seen significant decline in our people wanting to apply for a US visa, just because of the expenses alone," she said.

Mrs Mo'ungaloa Afu said even the minimum bond of $US10,000 would be out of reach for many Tongans, particularly those living inside the Kingdom.

"$US20,000 is about what someone makes in a year or two years of income in Tonga,"

she said.

Before the program, Mrs Mo'ungaloa Afu said she typically travelled to the US once a year to visit her siblings and aging mother.

She paid thousands in airfares for her family of six to travel to the US around Christmas last year.

She said a bond would make future trips virtually impossible.

"Right now, the priority is to just get a visa in case something happens like a funeral," she said.

"That is the main reason I'd want to travel."

Curbing overstay

Fijian political analyst Jope Tarai said the program reflected anti-immigration sentiment that could make other parts of the world more appealing to Pacific Islanders.

"One of those places for Fijian passport holders is China," he said.

"It's visa-free entry, so this is going to have huge implications between two big competing powers in certain parts of the region, so far as soft power is concerned."

The US State Department said the Visa Bond Program had dramatically improved overstay trends, and that 98 per cent of the 5,000 travellers who were issued visas with bonds returned to their country on time during the 12-month pilot period.

Previously, official figures list Tonga's B-1 and B-2 overstay rate at 6.45 per cent, while it's estimated 14 per cent of Tongan students overstay their visas.

Like Tonga, Fiji has a large diaspora in the US with about 54,000 people identifying as Fijian. But it has a lower overstay rate of 3.95 per cent, according to official figures.

Vanuatu and Tuvalu meanwhile have much smaller US diaspora communities than Tonga and Fiji.

Henrietta McNeill-Stowers, a research fellow at the Australian National University's Department of Pacific Affairs, said Tuvalu's high overstay rate (11.63 per cent) may explain why it's part of the Visa Bond Program.

However, other factors may have played a role for PNG and Vanuatu citizens being subjected to the bond.

"For Vanuatu, some of it is around identity verification and travel document security," she said.

"Their citizenship by investment scheme is something the US is keeping an eye on."