#  U.S. Government Instructs Visa Applicants to Apply in Their Country of Residence 

 





September 09, 2025

 

 

The U.S. Department of State this week directed all nonimmigrant visa applicants to apply in their country of nationality or residence, making it harder to apply in another country except under narrow exceptions.

Third-country national (TCN) applicants who apply outside of their home country may face “significantly” longer wait times and find it harder to qualify, [**according to the announcement**](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/adjudicating-niv-applicants-in-their-country-of-residence.html).

The State Department provided a list of designated U.S. consulate or embassy locations nonimmigrant visa holders should use if their country of nationality or residence does not have a visa-issuing consulate or embassy:

SortNationals ofUse Designated Location(s)Afghanistan

Islamabad, Pakistan

Belarus

Vilnius, Lithuania or Warsaw, Poland

Chad

Yaoundé, Cameroon

Cuba

Georgetown, Guyana

Haiti

Nassau, Bahamas

Iran

Dubai, UAE

Libya

Tunis, Tunisia

Niger

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Russian

Astana, Kazakhstan or Warsaw, Poland

Somalia and South Sudan

Nairobi, Kenya

Sudan

Cairo, Egypt

Syria

Amman, Jordan

Ukraine

Krakow or Warsaw, Poland

Venezuela

Bogota, Colombia

Yemen

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Zimbabwe

Johannesburg, South Africa





The State Department indicated existing TCN appointments “will generally not be cancelled” and that fees paid for those appointments would not be refunded and cannot be transferred.

Exceptions to the State Department directive include applicants for A, G, C-2, C-3, and NATO visas; applicants for diplomatic-type or official-type visas (regardless of classification); and applicants for any visa for travel covered by the UN Headquarters Agreement. The department said there may also be rare exceptions for humanitarian, medical emergency, or foreign policy reasons.

As always, applicants can [**check visa wait times**](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/global-visa-wait-times.html) on the Department of State’s website.



 

 

 



 

 

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