Kyrgyzstan should review its visa-free system for American citizens after the United States expanded its visa bond policy to include the Central Asian country, according to a senior Kyrgyz official who said there should be “mutual respect.”
The suggestion that there should be some reciprocity following the U.S. measure came from Edil Baisalov, deputy chairman of Kyrgyzstan´s Cabinet of Ministers and a prominent ally of President Sadyr Japarov. Currently, U.S. travelers to Kyrgyzstan can stay for up to 30 days without obtaining a visa.
“I believe that we should initiate a review of our visa-free regime for U.S. citizens following the new visa requirements announced yesterday by the State Department, under which Kyrgyz citizens are required to pay a visa deposit of up to $15,000 when submitting visa applications,” Baisalov said on X on Thursday. “Visa policy is a matter of parity and mutual respect. If such high barriers are introduced for our citizens, we cannot pretend that nothing has happened.”
However, he did not offer any analysis about what, if any, changes should be made to the visa-free system for U.S. visitors. Any visa dispute with the far more powerful United States could be risky for Kyrgyzstan, which has meanwhile joined with other Central Asian countries in trying to develop closer ties to the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Nationals from 38 countries, including Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, are subject to visa bonds under the U.S. State Department policy, which is part of a wider crackdown on immigration. The policy took effect for citizens from Turkmenistan on January 1 and will be implemented for nationals from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan starting on January 21.
“Any citizen or national traveling on a passport issued by one of these countries, who is found otherwise eligible for a B1/B2 visa, must post a bond for $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000. The amount is determined at the time of the visa interview,” the State Department said.
B-1 (business) and B-2 (tourism) refer to non-immigrant visas for people who want to stay temporarily in the U.S.
Visa holders who have posted bond are also required to enter the United States via designated international airports, including seven in the U.S. and two in Canada.
The U.S. visa bond policy is a setback for Kyrgyzstan, which had previously appealed to the United States to relax its visa requirements. Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Zheenbek Kulubaev raised the issue during a meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September.
