Kathmandu. A further 12 countries, including Cambodia, Ethiopia and Georgia, will have to pay $15,000 to get a visa, the US State Department said on Wednesday.

The State Department said the decision would extend the Trump administration’s visa bond program to 50 countries effective April 2.

The program, which applies to both short-term business and tourist visas, was introduced last year as part of the Trump administration’s collective crackdown on illegal immigration to prevent foreigners from doing so for “longer than visa permits.”

The amount will be refunded if the applicant complies with all visa conditions. If the applicant stays in the United States for more than the deadline, the amount will be forfeited.

“Approximately 1,000 foreign nationals have been issued visas under this program, and 97 percent of the conditioned travelers have returned home from the United States on time,” the State Department said in a fact sheet. ”

Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and Tunisia are the new countries added to the programme.

The other 38 countries include Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica and Fiji. The other members of the group are Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Sao Tome, Principe, Senegal, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.