The United States has announced a major overhaul of its visa operations across Africa, with routine visa services at its embassy in Abuja and 24 other diplomatic posts set to be discontinued effective August 1, 2026.
The US Department of State said the move is part of a broader realignment to regional processing hubs aimed at strengthening national security, reducing government waste, and ensuring more consistent standards in screening, vetting, and adjudication.
According to a statement released by the department, the policy aligns with President Donald Trump’s administration’s priority of putting America and its citizens first.
“The Department of State is constantly evaluating its overseas operations in order to advance America’s priorities as efficiently and effectively as possible. This includes a visa process that maintains rigorous standards of security screening and vetting and aligns resources and operational capacity with America’s national interests.
“The Trump administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans, and the State Department will continue to provide Americans with appropriate consular services and assistance at diplomatic posts around the world,” the statement read.
The diplomatic posts affected by the discontinuation of routine visa services include Abuja, Asmara, Bamako, Banjul, Brazzaville, Bujumbura, Conakry, Cotonou, Durban, Freetown, Gaborone, Harare, Juba, Libreville, and Lilongwe.
Others are Lusaka, Maputo, Maseru, Mbabane, N’Djamena, Niamey, Nouakchott, Ouagadougou, and Windhoek.
The State Department clarified that the realignment does not affect the operational status of any embassies or consulates, nor does it impact their broader diplomatic responsibilities.
It also stressed that all currently valid US visas remain unaffected by the policy.
The department explained that the immigrant visa categories impacted by the realignment include immediate relative (IR), family preference (FP), employment-based (EB), fiancé(e) visas (K), adoption cases, diversity visas, and follow-to-join asylee and refugee cases (V92/V93).
It noted that the hub-based visa system has already been successfully implemented in several African countries and parts of Europe.
Meanwhile, routine visa services will continue at selected US embassies and consulates, including Lagos, Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Cape Town, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Djibouti, Johannesburg, Kampala, Kigali, Kinshasa, Lomé, Luanda, Malabo, Monrovia, Nairobi, Port Louis, Praia, and Yaoundé.
These designated hub locations will handle all routine nonimmigrant visa applications—such as tourist, business, and petition-based visas—as well as immigrant visa processing.
The department further stated that existing visa restrictions under Presidential Proclamation 10998, visa bond requirements, and immigrant visa pauses affecting certain nationalities remain in force.
Applicants in affected countries who intend to apply for US visas on or after August 1, 2026, have been advised to schedule appointments and pay the required fees at the designated visa processing hubs.
The development is expected to significantly affect Nigerian applicants, many of whom currently process visas in Abuja. With the changes, applicants may now need to travel to Lagos or other regional hubs.
Nigeria remains one of the highest sources of US visa applications in Africa, with the US Embassy in Abuja and the Consulate in Lagos serving as the primary processing centres.
