The United States (US) State Department has announced that it will stop issuing visas at 24 of its embassies and consulates across Africa from Saturday, August 1, 2026.
According to DW Africa, the affected missions include Abuja, Bamako, Banjul, Brazzaville, Conakry, Cotonou, Durban and Freetown.
The affected US missions are:
- Abuja, Nigeria
- Asmara, Eritrea
- Bamako, Mali
- Banjul, The Gambia
- Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo
- Bujumbura, Burundi
- Conakry, Guinea
- Cotonou, Benin
- Durban, South Africa
- Freetown, Sierra Leone
- Gaborone, Botswana
- Harare, Zimbabwe
- Juba, South Sudan
- Libreville, Gabon
- Lilongwe, Malawi
- Lusaka, Zambia
- Maputo, Mozambique
- Maseru, Lesotho
- Mbabane, Eswatini
- N’Djamena, Chad
- Niamey, Niger
- Nouakchott, Mauritania
- Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
- Windhoek, Namibia
The US State Department said the suspension of visa services is part of new security measures being introduced by the US government.
Applicants in the affected countries will be required to apply for visas at designated regional hubs.
“Applicants in the affected countries will have to use designated regional hubs for tourist, business, work-related and immigrant visas. The US State Department said the changes are intended to improve security screening, reduce government costs and make visa processing more consistent. The decision will not close the affected embassies or consulates and will not affect valid US visas,” DW Africa posted on X on July 29, 2026.
For Nigeria, the State Department said visa services will only be available at its mission in Lagos.
It also confirmed that visa services will continue at US missions that are not on the list, including Accra, Lomé and Nairobi.
US Missions That Will Continue Issuing Visas
- Lagos, Nigeria
- Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
- Accra, Ghana
- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Dakar, Senegal
- Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
- Djibouti, Djibouti
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Kampala, Uganda
- Kigali, Rwanda
- Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Lomé, Togo
- Luanda, Angola
- Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
- Monrovia, Liberia
- Nairobi, Kenya
- Port Louis, Mauritius
- Praia, Cabo Verde
- Yaoundé, Cameroon
