US drops $15,000 visa deposit for foreign fans with World Cup tickets

The Trump administration will exempt football fans from 50 countries subject to a $15,000 (£11,000) visa deposit requirement, provided they are travelling to the US for the World Cup with valid match tickets.

Five of these countries - Algeria, Cabo Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Tunisia - have qualified for the tournament, to be co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico from 11 June.

"We are waiving visa bonds for qualified fans who bought World Cup tickets," Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar said in a statement to the BBC.

The bond requirement, introduced last year , was intended to reduce visa overstays, according to a notice published by the state department.

Players and coaches for the tournament were already exempt from the bond requirement, but ordinary fans with confirmed tickets for the World Cup had not been included until Wednesday.

The 12-month pilot programme, launched last August, was part of the administration's wider immigration crackdown.

According to the state department, it was intended to curb visa overstays or cases "where screening and vetting information is considered deficient". The bond would be refunded at the end of the visitor's stay.

While the requirement has now been suspended for football fans from the 50 affected countries, travellers from Iran and Haiti remain barred. But players and coaches from those countries are exempt for World Cup-related travel.

Travellers from Ivory Coast and Senegal, both of which have qualified for the tournament, face partial restrictions under an expanded version of that travel ban.

Late last year, the US government also announced that tourists from dozens of countries could be required to provide a five-year social media history as a condition of entry - another immigration policy that could affect visitors coming to the US for the World Cup.

Rights groups have warned travellers that such policies could lead to denied entry, arrest risks, expanded travel restrictions, social media screening, racial profiling and increased surveillance.