The United States will cease routine visa processing at the US Embassy in Abuja and 24 other African locations starting August 1, 2026, as part of a significant restructuring of visa services.
The US Department of State announced that embassy operations will be shifted to regional hubs to enhance national security, minimize waste, and maintain consistent screening and adjudication procedures. This change aligns with the Trump administration’s commitment to prioritize “America and Americans first.”
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The State Department emphasized that ensuring the safety and security of Americans remains its top priority and confirmed that consular services will still be available at diplomatic missions around the world.
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While the affected embassies and consulates will still operate, the new policy does not affect any currently valid US visas. The categories impacted include immediate relatives (IR), family preference (FP), employment-based (EB), fiancée/fiancé (K), adoption, diversity visa, and follow-to-join asylee and refugee (V92/V93) cases.
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Routine visa services will continue at specified hub locations such as Lagos, Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Cape Town, Dakar, Dar-es-Salaam, Johannesburg, Kampala, Kigali, Kinshasa, Luanda, Monrovia, Nairobi, Praia, and other selected cities, which will handle both immigrant and non-immigrant visa applications.
The department encouraged applicants in the affected countries to schedule appointments and pay visa fees at their respective hub locations starting August 1.
This change is likely to impact numerous Nigerians, as the Abuja embassy has been one of the primary US visa processing centers alongside the Lagos consulate. Many applicants may now need to travel to Lagos or other designated hubs to finalize their visa applications.
