- San José says appointment holders should check confirmation emails or its online appointment system.
- U.S. citizen emergency cases in San José are handled case by case; advance notice is requested.
- San José’s Consular Section also closes November 25; the embassy closes November 26.
The US Embassy in Nairobi will close Wednesday, November 11, 2026, for Veterans Day, affecting scheduled visa appointments and other consular services. Regular operations are expected to resume Thursday, November 12, 2026.
Visa and consular appointment holders in Nairobi are affected by the closure. The post has not detailed a rescheduling process.
The U.S. Embassy in San José, Costa Rica, will also close Wednesday, November 11. The shutdown covers the main embassy and its Consular Section, which handles visa services and consular appointments.
Both locations expect routine service to resume the next day. The reopening does not establish that any particular appointment has been rescheduled.
Both posts expect routine service to resume November 12
The Nairobi closure applies to scheduled visa and consular appointments. The announcement does not specify whether affected applicants will receive individual notices, or how appointments will be rearranged.
San José will close for the full day, including the Consular Section. Veterans Day honors people who served in the U.S. armed forces and is a U.S. federal holiday.
The two closures are confirmed for those posts. They do not establish that every U.S. embassy will close on the holiday.
San José directs applicants to email or the appointment system
In San José, people with an appointment should look for instructions in their confirmation email or the online visa appointment system. The post has not confirmed that appointments will move automatically.
Nairobi applicants have no comparable rescheduling instructions in the closure information. The post has not specified how it will contact people whose appointments are affected.
A one-day holiday shutdown is also different from a separate worldwide pause affecting immigrant visa interviews. That pause covers applicants seeking immigrant visas through consular processing outside the United States.
The pause does not cover nonimmigrant visas or adjustment-of-status adjudications in the United States. The State Department has not said when regular immigrant visa scheduling will resume. The pause concerns immigrant visa processing, not the holiday closure at either post.
A separate immigrant visa pause covers applicants processing abroad
People applying for permanent residence from outside the United States through consular processing may face the separate interview pause as well as a local appointment disruption. Its scope is not the same as a post closing for one day.
Applicants pursuing nonimmigrant visas are outside that pause, as are people whose adjustment-of-status cases are being adjudicated in the United States. The pause does not change the November 11 closure arrangements in Nairobi or San José.
The State Department has not set a date for normal immigrant visa scheduling to resume. That leaves the broader pause separate from the expected November 12 reopening at the two embassies.
Appointment holders should follow the instructions from their post
San José appointment holders should:
- Check their confirmation email or the online visa appointment system for rescheduling instructions.
- Avoid assuming an appointment has moved automatically. Only people with scheduled appointments are admitted to the Consular Section, which is in Pavas, west of downtown San José; the embassy also closes on Costa Rican public holidays.
- U.S. citizens seeking emergency help should know that cases are handled case by case. The embassy requests advance notice at ACSSanJose@state.gov.
The Consular Section in San José closes for consular services on the last Wednesday of every month, including November 25. The embassy will also close for Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26.
Nairobi applicants should monitor communications from the post handling their case. No specific rescheduling process has been provided for that closure.
