Updated October 30, 2026

US visa services in Africa: Abuja and 24 other posts moved to regional hubs

As of October 30, 2026, 25 US embassies and consulates in Africa, including the US Embassy in Abuja, no longer offer routine visa services. Since August 1, 2026, citizens and residents of those countries book their interview and pay the visa fee at a designated regional hub, such as Lagos for Nigeria, Johannesburg for Zambia or Dakar for The Gambia. Visas you already hold are not affected.

Below is every post that stopped and the hub its embassy now names, what changed for applicants in Abuja, how to book at a hub, and where the travel ban still applies.

Which US embassies in Africa stopped routine visa services?

The State Department announced the change on July 15, 2026 under the title "Realignment of U.S. Visa Services in Africa to Regional Hubs." From August 1, 2026, routine visa services stopped at these 25 posts: Abuja, Antananarivo, 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.

It covers both kinds of visa. On the nonimmigrant side, the announcement names all routine visas, including tourist and business visas. On the immigrant side, it names immediate relative, family preference and employment visas, fiancé(e) K visas, adoptions, diversity visas and follow-to-join cases for asylees and refugees.

The embassies stay open. The announcement says the change closes no embassy or consulate. The announcement lists 24 of these posts, all but Abuja, as keeping services for US citizens and a limited nonimmigrant visa service. On the embassy pages we checked, that limited service means diplomatic and government travel, for example in Juba, Mbabane and Maseru. Abuja also still handles diplomatic and government visas, the US Mission in Nigeria says.

Which hub do you apply at now?

The announcement lists 20 posts that handle routine visas for the region: Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Cape Town, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Djibouti, Johannesburg, Kampala, Kigali, Kinshasa, Lagos, Lomé, Luanda, Malabo, Monrovia, Nairobi, Port Louis, Praia and Yaoundé.

The table shows where each country's citizens and residents now apply, as that country's US embassy states it on its visa page (checked October 30, 2026). Some countries split nonimmigrant and immigrant visas between two hubs. The last column is the country's status under Proclamation 10998, the travel ban covered further down.

Two notes on the table. Durban is one of three US consulates in South Africa, so South Africans keep applying in Johannesburg or Cape Town. And Kinshasa is on the hub list, but as of October 30, 2026, the US Embassy in Kinshasa's visa page says it paused all visa services on May 18, 2026. Check your hub's own page before you pay.

What does the change mean for applicants at the US Embassy in Abuja?

Nigeria now has one post for routine visas. As of October 30, 2026, the US Mission in Nigeria says routine visa services are only available at the US Consulate General in Lagos, and that the Embassy in Abuja stopped processing routine visa applications on August 1, 2026. What the mission says about the move:

• Booked appointments. Appointments already scheduled are honored. If yours was rescheduled, check your email for the new date.
• Your fee receipt. An unused, still-valid visa application (MRV) fee receipt can be used to book a new appointment in Lagos.
• Questions. The mission sends scheduling questions to the Visa Helpdesk on its appointment site.
• Diplomatic and government visas (A, G and C) are still processed at the Embassy in Abuja, which now offers only those. Applicants should first check with their protocol office.
• Immigrant visas are handled in Lagos. Since January 1, 2025, the mission says you must visit the Lagos consulate at least twice, the first time for an in-person document review before the interview.

The travel ban still applies to Nigerians. Since January 1, 2026, Proclamation 10998 suspends the entry of Nigerian nationals as immigrants and on B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M and J visas, and tells officers to reduce the validity of other nonimmigrant visas issued to Nigerians. The mission says people covered by it may still apply and attend interviews, but may be ineligible for a visa. It also says Nigerians found otherwise eligible for a B1/B2 visa must post a bond of up to $20,000 before the visa is issued, wherever they apply (checked October 30, 2026). Our US travel ban countries guide explains the exceptions.

How do you book a visa appointment at a regional hub?

You book with the hub, not with your home embassy. The US Embassy in Eswatini, for example, says it can't help you submit an application or make an appointment in Johannesburg. The basic steps:

1. Fill in your DS-160. The officer at the hub reads it, so check every answer. Our DS-160 guide explains why that matters.
2. Open the hub's visa page. Most embassy pages in the table link to their hub. Follow that hub's instructions for paying the fee and booking.
3. Pay the fee and book the interview at the hub. The State Department's announcement says the appointment and the fee both go through the designated hub.
4. Check the hub's wait. Look up the hub's row in the Global Visa Wait Times table. Our wait time guide shows how to read it.
5. Plan the trip. You'll attend in person at the hub. For immigrant visas, the announcement says the medical exam can be done in your home country if there's an approved panel physician there, or at the hub.

If your hub is in South Africa (Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe), the US Embassy in Zimbabwe's page gives the details as of October 30, 2026. You pay and book on the South Africa appointment site. Consular staff add new appointments every Thursday afternoon, South Africa time. Submit your DS-160 at least two business days before the interview, or the appointment is canceled, and make sure its barcode matches the one you booked with. For an urgent trip, book any available appointment first, then request an expedited one online.

Can you apply in another country instead of your hub?

Generally not, unless you live there. The US Mission in Nigeria says nonimmigrant applicants should book in their country of residence or nationality, and that visa fees are non-refundable and non-transferable. For nationals of countries without routine visa operations, the hub is the designated place to apply, unless their residence is elsewhere, as the US Embassy in Niger's page puts it.

The US Embassy in Zimbabwe adds that people applying outside their country of nationality or residence should expect to wait significantly longer, might find it harder to qualify, and won't get the fee back. Our guide to US visa appointment wait times covers the full country-of-residence rule.

Does the travel ban still apply at the hubs?

Yes. The announcement says the visa suspensions under Proclamation 10998, the visa bond requirements and the immigrant visa pauses for certain nationalities all stay in effect. Moving your interview to a hub doesn't change how your nationality is treated.

As of October 30, 2026, eight of the countries in the table are under the full suspension (Burkina Faso, Chad, Eritrea, Mali, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone and South Sudan) and nine are under the partial one (Benin, Burundi, Gabon, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, The Gambia, Zambia and Zimbabwe). Proclamation 10998 took effect on January 1, 2026, and the Federal Register shows no later proclamation that changes the list. The partial suspension covers immigrant visas and B, F, M and J visas. The full one covers all visas, with narrow exceptions. See the complete list and exceptions in our US travel ban countries guide.

How should you prepare for an interview at a hub?

The interview itself doesn't change. The officer at the hub decides on the same rules, from your DS-160 and your answers. What changes is the trip, so plan it early:

• Read the hub's own rules on what to bring and what's not allowed inside. The US visa interview tips guide has the general list.
• Keep your answers short and true. Visitors are asked about the trip, who pays and what brings them home, covered in our B1/B2 interview questions. Students are asked about the school, the course and the money, covered in our F-1 interview questions.
• Practice saying it out loud before you travel. You get one short conversation at the window.

Visaful is an AI mock interview app for US visa interviews: an AI officer asks your visa's questions out loud and shows what to fix.

This is interview practice, not legal advice. For questions about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney. Visaful is not affiliated with the U.S. government or the Department of State.