US to discontinue visa services in Abuja and 24 other African cities

US to discontinue visa services in Abuja and 24 other African cities

The us will stop routine visa services at its embassy in Abuja from August 1, 2026, as a part of a wider restructuring affecting 25 diplomatic missions throughout Africa.

the usa branch of kingdom said the flow is aimed toward strengthening countrywide safety, reducing authorities spending and ensuring extra regular screening, vetting and visa processing standards thru local visa hubs. in line with the branch, the realignment is a part of the Trump management’s efforts to prioritise US countrywide hobbies whilst maintaining rigorous security assessments for visa candidates.

“The branch of country is continuously evaluating its overseas operations on the way to develop the united states’s priorities as efficaciously and efficiently as possible. This consists of a visa system that keeps rigorous standards of security screening and vetting and aligns sources and operational potential with the united states’s country wide hobbies.

“The Trump administration has no better priority than the protection and safety of american citizens, and the state branch will continue to offer people with appropriate consular services and assistance at diplomatic posts around the arena.”

The affected diplomatic posts encompass Abuja, as well as embassies 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 nation branch clarified that the affected embassies and consulates will remain operational and preserve carrying out their regular diplomatic and consular responsibilities. It additionally confused that the modifications will no longer affect visas which are already valid.

The restructuring covers immigrant visa categories which includes immediate family (IR), own family desire (FP), employment-based totally (EB), fiancé(e) (k) visas, adoption visas, range visas and comply with-to-be part of asylee and refugee (V92/V93) instances.

habitual visa offerings will maintain at distinctive hub places, which includes Lagos, Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Cape metropolis, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Djibouti, Johannesburg, Kampala, Kigali, Kinshasa, Lomé, Luanda, Malabo, Monrovia, Nairobi, Port Louis, Praia and Yaoundé.

these hubs will method each habitual non-immigrant visas, which include traveller, commercial enterprise and petition-based totally visas, as well as immigrant visas. The department additionally stated that present visa suspensions below Presidential Proclamation 10998, visa bond necessities and immigrant visa pauses affecting certain nationalities remain unchanged.

candidates from international locations tormented by the new policy who want to use for a US visa from August 1, 2026, were cautioned to time table appointments and pay the required costs at the designated local visa processing hubs. For Nigerians, the change capacity candidates who previously used america Embassy in Abuja for recurring visa processing will now have to follow thru america Consulate in Lagos or any other particular nearby hub.