“Eye for an eye” from the USA works. This is how Mali won the visa confrontation

The US State Department removed Mali from the list of countries covered by the new visa deposit program when Bamako introduced the principle of reciprocity, demanding 10,000. dollars from American travelers.

At the beginning of October, the US announced that citizens of several African countries applying for visas to the United States, including Malians, will be required to pay a deposit of PLN 5,000. up to 15 thousand dollars. The new rules are to apply from October 23, and the amount is to be determined during a conversation with the consul.

But a few days later, Bamako introduced the same obligation for American citizens, from whom they also demanded a security of PLN 10,000. dollars before obtaining visas to Mali.

A few days after the Malian government's decision, Washington published a revised list on the State Department website, which included Mauritania, Sao Tome and Principe, Tanzania, Gambia, Malawi and Zambia, but Mali disappeared from it.

The US introduced the “Visa Deposit Pilot Program” to reduce the high rates of overstay in the United States and to control the acquisition of citizenship “through investment without residency requirements.”

When the Mali military authorities saw their country on the list of those covered by the program, they were surprised to say that they had always cooperated with the United States in the fight against illegal immigration, but that they had done so “with respect for the law and human dignity.” Washington tried to smooth things over by explaining that it was only a pilot program, but Bamako said that the deposit, although refundable upon return from the US, violated the agreement's provisions on multiple long-term visas, and resorted to the “eye for an eye” principle.

The program raises a lot of reservations in Africa because it does not include countries that are among the most frequently violating American migration law. West African Liberia has one of the highest U.S. visa rejection rates in the world. A report from the US Department of Homeland Security shows that in 2024, over 82 percent Liberians who visited the United States were never returned to their homeland. However, not only has the country not been included in the visa deposit program, but its parliamentarians have just launched a campaign of pressure on the United States to completely abolish visas for Liberians.

From Abidjan Tadeusz Brzozowski (PAP)

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