The United States Mission in Nigeria has clarified that the ongoing realignment of routine visa processing in Africa will not affect the operational status of the US Embassy in Abuja.

The clarification followed the United States Department of State’s announcement that routine visa services in Abuja would be realigned to a regional visa hub with effect from August 1, 2026.

The US Mission Nigeria, in a post on its official X handle on Monday, said the change was limited to routine visa processing and would not result in the closure of the embassy.

“The realignment of routine visa processing does not change the operating status of any of the embassies and consulates or the important work they continue to conduct on behalf of the American people,” the mission said.

The Department of State had, in a notice published on its website on July 15, said it was realigning visa operations in Africa to regional hubs as part of efforts to strengthen national security, improve efficiency and promote more uniform screening, vetting and adjudication standards.

It said the measure was part of a long-standing practice and that similar realignments had previously been implemented in several African countries and in Europe.

“Effective August 1, 2026, the Department of State will realign routine visa services in Antananarivo, Abuja, 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 to a regional visa hub,” the department said.

Under the new arrangement, citizens and residents of affected countries seeking US visas on or after August 1 are required to schedule appointments and pay the applicable visa fees at designated nonimmigrant or immigrant visa locations.

For Nigeria, Lagos is listed among the US posts that will serve as a regional visa hub.

The State Department listed 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 as the regional visa hubs for routine visa services.

It explained that all routine visa services were affected by the realignment, covering both nonimmigrant and immigrant visas.

“These include tourist and business-related nonimmigrant visas, as well as petition-based nonimmigrant visas,” the department said.

It added that immigrant visa services being realigned include immediate relative, family preference and employment-based categories, as well as fiancée/fiancé visas, adoptions, Diversity Visas and follow-to-join asylee and refugee cases.

The department, however, said the realignment would not affect existing valid visas.

“This does not affect any currently valid visas,” it said.

It also advised applicants who already have appointments scheduled at posts where routine visa services are being discontinued to check their email for specific guidance.

The department said applicants who had paid the Machine Readable Visa fee at a post where only limited nonimmigrant visa services would remain should schedule their appointment by July 31.

“By July 31, you should schedule an appointment at the post where you paid the fee,” it said.

The Mission added that the fees would not be refunded if applicants failed to schedule an appointment by the deadline.

The US also said affected immigrant visa applicants could undertake their mandatory medical examinations in their home countries where panel physicians were available or at their designated regional visa hubs.

The department stressed that visa suspensions under Presidential Proclamation 10998, visa bond requirements and immigrant visa pauses affecting certain nationalities remained in force.

The clarification by the US Mission Nigeria means that while routine visa processing is being moved from Abuja to the designated regional hub in Lagos, the US Embassy in Abuja will continue to operate and provide other diplomatic and consular functions. (The PUNCH)

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