BY NEWZWIRE
The U.S. Embassy in Zimbabwe will temporarily suspend all routine visa services starting Thursday, according to a State Department memo.
The suspension will impact a range of visa categories, including immigrant visas, and nonimmigrant visas for tourism, business, study, and exchange programmes. A senior State Department official said:
The Administration is always working to prevent visa overstay and misuse.
The official cited Zimbabwe’s B1 and B2 visa overstay rate of 10.57%, equivalent to 709 individuals.
Overstay rates among student visa holders are also a concern — particularly as Zimbabwe has not agreed to a so-called “safe third country” or “third country national” arrangement, which would allow asylum seekers to pursue their claims from a country they previously transited through, the official said.
The Trump administration has reportedly exerted pressure on African nations to accept the return of non-national migrants. To date, only Eswatini, Rwanda, and South Sudan have publicly agreed to such an arrangement.
According to the memo, the suspension will not affect visas that are already valid, and certain applications, including official and C-3 diplomatic visas, will continue to be processed.
