Miss Zambia Will Not Travel to Miss Universe Over U.S. Visa

Miss Zambia 2026, Mubanga Pamela Hatyoka, will not travel to the Miss Universe pageant because she had not received a U.S. visa, according to Arm Model Management, the franchise holder for Miss Zambia. The pageant is scheduled for Nov. 24 in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory.

Arm Model Management said Hatyoka's absence is linked to U.S. presidential travel restrictions that affect Zambia and other African nations. A visa is the official permission a foreign visitor needs before entering a country, and the restrictions limit who can receive one. Arm Model Management said the rules have affected its contestant's travel plans.

The background to those rules dates to January. The Trump administration imposed full or partial travel bans and visa restrictions on 36 countries, 29 of them in Africa. Those restrictions were later widened to include Zambia and Zimbabwe, kept in full for citizens of the Republic of Congo, and added for South Sudan.

Zambia is not the only country whose contestants have run into difficulty. Roseanna Hall, Miss Zimbabwe's contestant, said she had not received a U.S. visa for Miss Universe. Contestants from South Sudan and the Republic of Congo also faced visa delays, according to news reports.

The Miss Universe organization's social media page lists 20 African countries among its contestants, according to the same report.