2026-01-07 07:10
publication
2026-01-07 07:10
The United States has extended the requirement to pay PLN 15,000. deposit dollars from U.S. visa applicants to seven additional countries; five of them are African countries – according to the list published in early January by the US Department of State on the official website travel.state.gov.
The new countries affected by the restrictive policy are: Bhutan, Botswana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia, Central African Republic and Turkmenistan.
Botswana reacted to the news with a statement saying “diversification of its international policy, as part of which it intends to open its embassy in Moscowand the country's Foreign Minister, Phenyo Butale, on Sunday invited Russia to cooperate in the mining of rare earth metals and diamonds.
In mid-December too Namibia invited Russians to mine diamonds and uranium and to invest in the construction of a nuclear power plant. Last year, relations with Russia, especially military ones, were also strengthened by Guinea-Bissau, where a coup d'état took place at the end of November.
Currently, after updating, the list of countries whose citizens must pay PLN 15,000. dollars deposit when applying for a visa, includes 13 countries, 11 of which are in Africa. In addition to the new five, the list includes: Gambia, Mauritania, Malawi, Tanzania, Sao Tome and Principe and Zambia, which were added to the list in August and October last year.
American authorities claim that visa deposits are intended to reduce the number of people violating visa-related laws, especially regarding their validity period. The deposit must be paid in advance before the visa application is processed. The money is refunded if the application is refused or if the traveler strictly complies with the visa conditions.
Tadeusz Brzozowski (PAP)
tebe / piu /
