Article #25688

• State department grants waiver for ticket holders

• Trump administration has cracked down on immigration

The Trump administration is suspending a requirement that would have required visitors from five World Cup-qualified countries to pay a bond of up to $15,000 in order to enter the United States for the tournament.

The US state department imposed the bond requirement last year for countries that it said had high rates of people overstaying their visas and other security issues as part of a broader crackdown on immigration. Travelers to the US from 50 countries are required to pay the bond, and five of those countries have qualified for the World Cup – Algeria, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Tunisia.