Last reviewed: September 9, 2026

Routine U.S. Visa Services Ended at 25 Posts in Africa

Effective 1 August 2026, the Department of State realigned and consolidated visa services in Sub-Saharan Africa. Routine visa services stopped at twenty-five diplomatic posts, and applicants from those countries now have to book the interview and pay the visa fee at a designated regional hub instead.

The fee follows the interview. That is the part that costs people money: a fee paid into the wrong country's system is not transferable, and it is not refunded.

The 25 posts that stopped routine visa services

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.

This is the list as published, word for word, on the U.S. Mission websites for Nigeria and Zimbabwe, read on 9 September 2026. Both carry it identically.

What the notice actually says

From August 1, 2026 onwards, nationals and residents of countries where the aforementioned posts are located who wish to apply for a visa must schedule an appointment and pay the required visa fee at the appropriate designated regional hub.

And, for anyone already booked:

If you have a scheduled interview at one of these locations, please monitor your email for specific guidance about your application.

Which hub? Most posts do not say

This is the practical problem. The notice tells you to use "the appropriate designated regional hub" without naming it, and only some posts publish which one applies to them. We checked six on 9 September 2026:

Country	Does its embassy page name the hub?	Hub
Zimbabwe	yes	U.S. Consulates Johannesburg or Cape Town
Namibia	yes	U.S. Consulate General Cape Town or Johannesburg
Nigeria	no	generic wording only
Zambia	no	generic wording only
Malawi	no	generic wording only
Mozambique	no	generic wording only
Botswana	no	generic wording only

Nigeria is the largest affected market and its page does not name a replacement. Abuja appears on that site as a location, and so does the Consulate General in Lagos — which is not on the list of posts that stopped routine services — but the page does not state that Lagos is where routine applicants should now go. We are not going to infer it for you.

Nigeria does have a documented system for the account, fee and booking, even though its post does not name an interview hub: Nigeria is one of the 14 countries served by AVITS at usvisaappt.com, the Department of State's own visa information and appointment service. That is where the account is created and the fee is paid. It does not tell you which post will interview you, which is the open question above. See which appointment site applies to your country.

Do not guess, and do not pay first. Check your own post's site, and if it does not name a hub, ask before paying anything. The State Department publishes a master page, Realignment of U.S. Visa Services in Africa to Regional Hubs, on travel.state.gov. We could not read it — that site served a bot-protection challenge, which we did not attempt to bypass — so we are not summarising a page we have not seen.

If you are a Nigerian national, there is a second requirement

Separately from the hub change, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria publishes this:

From 21 January 2026, nationals of Nigeria found otherwise eligible for a B-1/B-2 visa must post a bond of up to $15,000.
The consular officer tells you at the interview whether you are eligible and gives instructions for paying the bond.
Applicants must not use any third-party website to post the bond, and must not pay a bond before a consular officer instructs them to.
A B-1/B-2 visa cannot be issued until the bond is paid.
The requirement applies regardless of place of application — interviewing at a hub in another country does not avoid it.

That third bullet is the one to take seriously. A rule that sends applicants to another country to interview, combined with a $15,000 payment that only a consular officer may instruct, is precisely the shape of situation that attracts fee-collection scams. There is no website to pay a bond on in advance.

See the U.S. visa bond programme and the 39 countries under Proclamation 10998.

Frequently asked questions

Which U.S. posts in Africa stopped routine visa services?

Twenty-five: 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 — effective 1 August 2026.

Where do I pay the visa fee now?

At the designated regional hub where you will interview, not in your own country. Fees are tied to the system of the country you apply in, are non-refundable and are not transferable between countries.

Where do Zimbabweans apply for a U.S. visa now?

The U.S. Embassy in Zimbabwe states that citizens and residents must schedule and pay at U.S. Consulates Johannesburg or Cape Town.

Where do Nigerians apply now?

The U.S. Mission in Nigeria has not named a replacement post on its visa page. It repeats the general instruction to use the appropriate designated regional hub. Ask your post before paying — a fee paid into the wrong country's system is lost.

What if I already had an interview booked at one of these posts?

The notice says to monitor your email for specific guidance about your application. It does not say the appointment is automatically transferred.

Does the Nigeria bond have a website I can pay on?

No. The mission's notice says applicants must not use any third-party website to post the bond and must not pay before a consular officer instructs them to.