US to halt visa issuance at 24 African missions - See full list

The United States (US) State Department has reportedly announced that, effective Saturday, August 1, 2026, it will end the issuance of visas at 24 of its embassies and consulates on the African continent.

According to DW Africa, the embassies and consulates include its missions in Abuja, Bamako, Banjul, Brazzaville, Conakry, Cotonou, Durban and Freetown.

Below is the full list of US missions that would be affected.

1. Abuja, Nigeria

2. Asmara, Eritrea

3. Bamako, Mali

4. Banjul, The Gambia

5. Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo

6. Bujumbura, Burundi

7. Conakry, Guinea

8. Cotonou, Benin

9. Durban, South Africa

10. Freetown, Sierra Leone

11. Gaborone, Botswana

12. Harare, Zimbabwe

13. Juba, South Sudan

14. Libreville, Gabon

15. Lilongwe, Malawi

16. Lusaka, Zambia

17. Maputo, Mozambique

18. Maseru, Lesotho

19. Mbabane, Eswatini

20. N’Djamena, Chad

21. Niamey, Niger

22. Nouakchott, Mauritania

23. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

24. Windhoek, Namibia

The department explained that the cancellation of visa services in the affected countries was part of security measures being put in place by the US government.

It added that applicants in the affected countries can apply for visa services at other missions in the region.

“Applicants in the affected countries will have to use designated regional hubs for tourist, business, work-related and immigrant visas. The US State Department said the changes are intended to improve security screening, reduce government costs and make visa processing more consistent. The decision will not close the affected embassies or consulates and will not affect valid US visas,” DW Africa posted on X on July 29, 2026.

For Nigeria, the State Department indicated that the issuance of visas would be done only at its mission in Lagos.

It added that visa services would be available at all of its missions on the African continent that were not on the list of 24, including Accra, Lomé and Nairobi.

Below is a full list of US missions that would not be affected.

1. Lagos, Nigeria

2. Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

3. Accra, Ghana

4. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

5. Cape Town, South Africa

6. Dakar, Senegal

7. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

8. Djibouti, Djibouti

9. Johannesburg, South Africa

10. Kampala, Uganda

11. Kigali, Rwanda

12. Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

13. Lomé, Togo

14. Luanda, Angola

15. Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

16. Monrovia, Liberia

17. Nairobi, Kenya

18. Port Louis, Mauritius

19. Praia, Cabo Verde

20. Yaoundé, Cameroon

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