The United States says the restructuring is intended to centralise visa screening, strengthen security checks and improve efficiency across its diplomatic missions in Africa.

ABUJA, Nigeria — The United States Department of State has announced that routine visa processing at its embassy in Abuja will be transferred to the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos, effective Saturday, August 1, 2026.

The decision forms part of a wider restructuring of American visa operations across Africa, under which routine services at 25 diplomatic posts will be moved to designated regional processing hubs.

According to a statement published by the U.S. Department of State, the realignment is aimed at promoting uniform standards in visa screening, security vetting and adjudication while ensuring that personnel and resources are deployed more efficiently.

Under the new arrangement, Lagos will serve as Nigeria’s designated centre for routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa processing.

The affected services include tourist and business visas, student and exchange visas, petition-based employment visas, family-sponsored immigrant visas, employment-based immigrant visas, fiancé and fiancée visas, Diversity Visas and certain refugee and asylum-related cases.

Nigerian citizens and residents seeking to apply for routine U.S. visas from August 1 will be required to schedule their appointments and pay the applicable fees through the designated Lagos processing centre.

The State Department clarified that the policy does not amount to the closure of the U.S. Embassy in Abuja. The embassy will continue its diplomatic functions and provide consular assistance to American citizens.

The department also said the restructuring would not invalidate visas that had already been issued.

“This does not affect any currently valid visas,” the State Department said in its official guidance.

Applicants who already have appointments scheduled in Abuja have been advised to check their emails for country-specific instructions on how their cases will be handled.

The department further warned that visa application fees paid at affected posts would not be refunded where an applicant failed to schedule an appointment before the July 31 deadline.

The policy affects Abuja and 24 other African locations, including 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.

The regional visa hubs that will continue providing routine services include Lagos, Accra, Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Dakar, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Kampala, Kigali, Kinshasa, Lomé and several other African cities.

The Trump administration said the restructuring was consistent with its emphasis on national security, tighter immigration screening and reductions in government expenditure.

However, the consolidation could require some applicants in affected African countries to travel to another city or country for interviews, increasing the cost and logistical burden associated with obtaining a U.S. visa.

For Nigerians, the principal change is that applicants who previously used the Abuja embassy for routine visa interviews will now have to complete the process through Lagos.