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

September 9, 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.

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:

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 on the Department of State’s website.