The United States will discontinue routine visa services at its Embassy in Abuja from August 1, 2026, as part of a broader restructuring of visa operations across Africa.
The US Department of State said the move is intended to strengthen national security, improve efficiency, reduce government spending and ensure more consistent visa screening, vetting and adjudication through designated regional visa hubs.
In a statement, the department said it regularly reviews its overseas operations to ensure they align with America’s national interests while maintaining rigorous security standards.
“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 statement read.
The restructuring affects 25 diplomatic missions across Africa, including the US Embassy in Abuja and missions in Asmara, Bamako, Banjul, Brazzaville, Bujumbura, Conakry, Cotonou, Durban, Freetown, Gaborone, Harare, Juba, Libreville, Lilongwe, Lusaka, Maputo, Maseru, Mbabane, N’Djamena, Niamey, Nouakchott, Ouagadougou and Windhoek.
The State Department clarified that the affected embassies and consulates will remain open and continue providing other diplomatic and consular services. It also noted that the changes will not affect visas that have already been issued.
The realignment covers both immigrant and non-immigrant visa categories, including immediate relative (IR), family preference (FP), employment-based (EB), fiancé(e) (K), adoption, diversity visa and follow-to-join asylee and refugee (V92/V93) cases. Routine processing for tourist, business and other non-immigrant visas will also be transferred to regional visa hubs.
According to the department, routine visa services will continue at designated hubs in 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.
The department added that existing visa restrictions under Presidential Proclamation 10998, visa bond requirements and immigrant visa pauses affecting certain nationalities remain unchanged.
Applicants from countries affected by the policy who intend to apply for US visas from August 1 have been advised to schedule appointments and pay the required fees at the designated regional visa processing hubs. For Nigerians, this means applicants who previously used the US Embassy in Abuja for routine visa processing will now need to apply through the US Consulate General in Lagos or another designated regional hub.