The key facts

  • Miss Zimbabwe Rosanna Hall has still not received a US visa to take part in the pageant in Puerto Rico
  • Zambia withdrew its contestant Pamela Mubanga due to US travel restrictions
  • The restrictions under proclamation 10998 have been in effect since January 1, 2026 and affect 19 countries, including Zimbabwe

Contestants unable to reach the pageant

The final of the 75th Miss Universe pageant is to be held on November 24 at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in San Juan (Puerto Rico). However, several African contestants risk missing it: they cannot obtain visas to enter this US territory. Registration, fittings and other pre-pageant events began as early as November 8, which adds pressure on those still waiting for their documents.

Zimbabwe and Zambia

Miss Zimbabwe Rosanna Hall said in an Instagram video that 'we are going back and forth trying to get visa approval'. According to her, on the day she was supposed to fly to Puerto Rico, the visa still had not been issued; she spent the past weeks in South Africa trying to arrange the documents. Hall noted that she is not the only one facing this problem: 'some of my African sisters are in the same situation'. Zambia went further and officially withdrew its contestant — 25-year-old nurse Pamela Mubanga, who was crowned on October 8. The pageant organizers in Zambia emphasized that her case is connected precisely with the US presidential travel restrictions, and not with personal circumstances, documents or organizational issues. The statement also said that five more African countries had faced similar difficulties, but their names were not given.

The cause — US visa restrictions

Zimbabwe is among the 19 countries subject to partial US travel restrictions introduced by presidential proclamation 10998 and in effect since January 1, 2026. These measures suspend the issuance of guest, student and exchange visas, as well as immigrant visas, to citizens of the affected countries, and impose limits on other non-immigrant visas. Uncertainty persists for other contestants as well: the Miss Universe South Sudan organization commented on Hall's video that the chances of its contestant making it to the pageant are '50/50'. Hall herself, according to her, continues to hope to make it in time: 'The fight to get Zimbabwe to Puerto Rico continues'.

A woman wearing a red dress, a silver crown embellished with turquoise and navy-blue stones, and a white sash bearing the wordsImage source, Roseanna Hall
Image caption,

Hall is not the first African contestant to be affected by the US visa restrictions

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