The United States has announced that routine visa services at its embassy in Abuja will end from August 1, 2026, as part of a major restructuring of visa operations across Africa.
The US Department of State said the move is aimed at strengthening national security, improving screening processes, reducing government waste, and ensuring more consistent visa processing standards across its diplomatic missions.
According to the department, the realignment is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to make overseas operations more efficient while maintaining strict security screening for visa applicants.
The change will affect the US Embassy in Abuja and 24 other diplomatic missions across Africa, including those 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 decision does not affect the operation of the embassies or consulates themselves, and all currently valid US visas remain valid.
The affected visa categories include immediate relative visas, family preference visas, employment based visas, fiancé and fiancée visas, adoption visas, diversity visas, and follow to join asylee and refugee cases.
Lagos to Continue Visa Processing
Routine visa services will continue at designated US visa hubs, including Lagos, as well as 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 locations will handle both routine nonimmigrant visas, such as tourist and business visas, and immigrant visa applications.
The department advised applicants from affected countries who wish to apply for US visas from August 1, 2026, to schedule appointments and pay visa fees at the appropriate designated visa processing hubs.
The new policy is expected to affect thousands of Nigerian applicants who previously processed visa applications in Abuja, with many now expected to use the US Consulate in Lagos or other designated visa hubs across Africa.
