US Suspends Routine Visa Services in Abuja From August 1

The United States has declared that, as of August 1, 2026, it will no longer provide visa services in Abuja and 24 other diplomatic cities in Africa.

Realignment to regional hubs was a component of initiatives to improve national security, reduce government waste, and guarantee more consistent screening, vetting, and adjudication standards, according to a statement from the US Department of State.

The United States has announced the realignment of routine visa services across several African diplomatic posts as part of what it described as efforts to advance American priorities more efficiently.

The statement said the administration of President Donald Trump is putting America and Americans first by realigning overseas operations to advance US priorities efficiently and effectively.

It explained that the Department of State constantly evaluates its overseas operations to advance America's priorities as efficiently and effectively as possible, adding that this includes maintaining a visa process with rigorous standards of security screening and vetting, while aligning resources and operational capacity with America's national interests.

The statement stressed that the Trump administration had no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans, and that the State Department would continue providing Americans with appropriate consular services and assistance at diplomatic posts worldwide.

Other African diplomatic posts affected by the routine visa realignment include Asmara, Bamako, Banjul, Brazzaville, Bujumbura, Conakry, Cotonou, Durban, Freetown, Gaborone, Harare, Juba, Libreville and Lilongwe, alongside Lusaka, Maputo, Maseru, Mbabane, N'Djamena, Niamey, Nouakchott, Ouagadougou and Windhoek.

According to the US State Department, the realignment does not change the operating status of any of the embassies and consulates or the important work they continue to carry out on behalf of the American people.

It equally clarified that the policy does not affect any currently valid US visas, noting that realigning visa services to regional hubs had already proven successful in several African nations as well as in Europe.

However, the State Department said routine visa services will continue at US embassies and consulates in Lagos, Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Cape Town, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Djibouti, Johannesburg, Kampala, Kigali, Kinshasa, Lome, Luanda, Malabo, Monrovia, Nairobi, Port Louis, Praia and Yaoundé.