The United States has agreed to waive visa bond payments for FIFA World Cup ticket holders from five African nations — but for some of those fans, the relief is largely symbolic.
Since 2025, the Trump administration has required visitors from certain countries to post bonds of between $5,000 and $15,000 just to obtain a tourist visa. That scheme expanded in 2026 to cover 50 countries. Five of them — Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia — qualified for the World Cup. US Assistant Secretary of State Mora Namdar confirmed Wednesday that the bond requirement would be waived for fans who purchased valid tickets and enrolled in FIFA PASS, the fast-track visa processing system, by April 15, 2026.
On paper, that's a win. In practice, it's complicated.
The waiver has real limits
Fans from Senegal and Ivory Coast are still caught by a separate partial travel ban introduced in December 2025. If you didn't already hold a US visa before that ban came into effect, you're not getting a visitor visa regardless of whether you hold a ticket or not. The bond waiver changes nothing for them.
It gets worse for supporters of Haiti and Iran, whose teams also qualified. Both countries remain under full visa suspension. Their fans simply cannot enter the United States. Players, coaches and certain staff are exempt from the bans — which is how the teams are competing at all — but the stands will be missing those supporters entirely.
- Algeria, Cape Verde, Tunisia: Bond waiver applies — fans with tickets and FIFA PASS enrollment can travel
- Senegal, Ivory Coast: Bond waived, but partial entry ban means no new visitor visas regardless
- Haiti, Iran: Full visa suspension — fans cannot enter the US under any circumstances
ICE fears haven't gone away
Beyond the visa mechanics, there's a broader anxiety hanging over the tournament. The Trump administration's immigration enforcement record has made international fans genuinely nervous about attending matches in the US, even with legal status. Human Rights Watch called on FIFA in late April to push for an "ICE Truce" — a public commitment to halt immigration enforcement operations at World Cup venues.
The Department of Homeland Security responded that legal visitors "have nothing to worry about." That statement landed poorly given that documented cases of people with legal status — and in some instances US citizens — being detained during ICE operations had already been reported.
The World Cup kicks off June 11, co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico. Three-quarters of the 78 matches are being played on US soil. For any nation whose fans face barriers getting in, that skews the atmosphere in those stadiums before a ball is even kicked.
