US Ends Visa Processing In Abuja
The United States has announced that routine visa services at its embassy in Abuja and 24 other diplomatic missions across Africa will cease from August 1, 2026, as part of a regional restructuring of its visa operations.
The US Department of State disclosed this in a statement, saying the realignment was aimed at strengthening national security, reducing government spending and ensuring more consistent screening, vetting and adjudication standards.
According to the department, the move forms part of President Donald Trump’s administration’s efforts to align overseas operations with US national interests.
“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 change include Abuja, 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 stressed that the realignment would not affect the operating status of the embassies and consulates or alter the consular services they continue to provide on behalf of the United States.
It also clarified that the policy would not affect visas that are already valid.
According to the department, the immigrant visa categories affected by the restructuring include immediate relative visas, family preference visas, employment-based visas, fiancée and fiancé visas, adoption cases, diversity visas, and follow-to-join asylee and refugee (V92/V93) cases.
It added that similar regional hub arrangements had already been implemented successfully in several African countries and parts of Europe.
The department, however, said routine visa services would continue at US embassies and consulates 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.
These designated hubs will continue to process all routine non-immigrant visas, including tourist, business and petition-based visas, as well as immigrant visas.
The State Department also stated that visa suspensions imposed under Presidential Proclamation 10998, visa bond requirements and immigrant visa pauses for certain nationalities would remain in effect.
It advised citizens and residents of the affected countries seeking US visas from August 1, 2026, to book appointments and pay the required visa fees at the designated non-immigrant or immigrant visa processing hubs.
The new arrangement is expected to affect thousands of Nigerian applicants who currently process visas at the US Embassy in Abuja, requiring many to complete their applications in Lagos or other designated regional centres.
Nigeria records one of the highest volumes of US visa applications in Africa, with the US Embassy in Abuja and the US Consulate in Lagos serving as the country’s two principal visa processing centres.
