The United States has announced that routine visa processing at its Embassy in Abuja will end from August 1, 2026, as part of a major restructuring of consular services across Africa.

The decision affects the US Embassy in Abuja and 24 other diplomatic missions on the continent, with visa services to be consolidated at selected regional hubs.

Visa Services Moved to Regional Hubs

The US Department of State said the realignment is aimed at strengthening national security, improving screening procedures, reducing government waste and ensuring more consistent visa adjudication.

According to the department, the policy aligns with President Donald Trump’s administration’s commitment to “putting America and Americans first.”

“The Trump administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans,” the department said, adding that US embassies and consulates would continue providing other appropriate consular services.

Visa Categories Affected

The new arrangement will affect several visa categories, including immediate relative (IR), family preference (FP), employment-based (EB), fiancé/fiancée (K), adoption, diversity visa, and follow-to-join asylee and refugee (V92/V93) applications.

The State Department clarified that the policy does not cancel or invalidate any existing valid US visas.

Lagos Becomes Nigeria’s Main Processing Hub

Under the new system, routine visa applications will be handled at designated regional centres, including Lagos, Accra, Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Cape Town, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg, Kampala, Kigali, Kinshasa, Luanda, Monrovia, Nairobi and Praia.

Applicants from affected countries have been advised to book appointments and pay visa application fees at their assigned hub locations from August 1.

For Nigerian applicants, Lagos will serve as the primary processing centre, meaning many who previously used the Abuja Embassy will now have to travel to Lagos to complete their visa applications.

Thousands of Nigerians Expected to Be Affected

The policy is expected to impact thousands of Nigerians, as Abuja has long served as one of the country’s two major US visa processing centres alongside the Consulate General in Lagos.

The restructuring marks one of the most significant changes to US visa operations in Africa in recent years.