African contestants face exclusion from Miss Universe amid US visa restrictions
Several African contestants for the Miss Universe pageant competition, including Miss Universe Zimbabwe, Roseanna Hall, risk missing the 75th Miss Universe pageant in Puerto Rico due to ongoing difficulties in securing United States visas.
The pageant final is scheduled to take place on 24 November at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in San Juan. Contestants already started arriving on 8 November for registration, fittings, and other pre-pageant activities.
Hall, who was due to depart for Puerto Rico this week, stated in a video published on her Instagram page that efforts to obtain her visa remain futile.
“We have been back and forth, trying to get my visa approved,” she said.
Zimbabwe is among 19 countries subject to partial travel restrictions under United States Presidential Proclamation 10998, and was enacted on 1st January 2026.
The measures suspend the issuance of visitor, student, exchange, and immigrant visas to nationals of the affected countries, while imposing additional restrictions on other non-immigrant visa categories.
Zambia has withdrawn its representative, Pamela Mubanga, from the competition due to the restrictions.
Mubanga, 25, a registered nurse, was crowned Miss Universe Zambia on 8 October. In an official statement, Miss Universe Zambia clarified that her withdrawal was not attributable to personal circumstances, documentation, or organisational shortcomings, but to the United States presidential travel restriction affecting Zambia and other African nations.
The organisation further disclosed that five additional African countries were experiencing similar challenges, although it did not identify them.
Hall confirmed that she has spent recent weeks in South Africa pursuing her visa application and acknowledged that other contestants share her situation.
“I am not alone in this predicament. Some of my African sisters are facing the same predicament, and I know exactly what they are going through,” she said.
Miss Universe South Sudan also expressed uncertainty regarding her participation, commenting on Hall’s video: “It is 50/50 whether we will make it, Miss Universe.”
Despite the uncertainty, Hall has maintained that efforts to secure her participation continue. In a separate video posted three days earlier, she captioned her update: “The fight to get Zimbabwe to Puerto Rico continues.”