The news that Washington was rescinding the visas was announced by US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert on Tuesday.
Her comments were echoed by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who announced the move at a State Department news conference on Tuesday.
He said: “We’re making very clear that the United States does not tolerate this ruthless action to silence Mr Khashoggi, a journalist, through violence.”
But Mr Pompeo refused to disclose any information on whether the US had accessed a reported audio recording of the brutal killing – which supposedly involved the use of a bone saw to dismember Mr Khashoggi.
The recording, which reportedly documents the entire bloodthirsty event, was allegedly made using internal “bugs” hidden within the consulate.
Regarding the recording, Mr Pompeo said: “I don’t have anything more to share with you about particular data sets.”
However, the Secretary did reveal Turkish officials had been “very cooperative with us”.
Saudi dissident Ali al-Ahmed, who was imprisoned in Saudi Arabia when he just 14, told Express.co.uk: “I think this case will be a source of some deal between the three countries or, maybe, just maybe a grand deal between the US and Turkey against Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman or his entire family.
“Erdogan withheld the most important cards, the smoking gun, for a strategic reason and not for what some have said for judicial reasons.”
Vice President Mike Pence also responded defiantly, stating that the Trump administration would respond appropriately to Mr Khashoggi’s death.
Mr Pence said Mr Khashoggi’s murder at Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul “will not go without an American response”.
The visa revocations are the first sign of US punitive measures being taken against Riyadh since Mr Khashoggi went missing after entering the consulate on October 2.
It is not yet clear exactly which officials will be sanctioned, but the total revocations issued will be 21, it has now emerged since Mr Pompeo’s initial intervention on Tuesday.
On Tuesday afternoon, President Trump branded the Khashoggi “cover-up” as a “total fiasco” and one of the “worst in the history of cover-ups”.
He said: “There should have never been an execution or a cover-up because it should have never happened.
“I would say it was a total fiasco from day one.”
Turkish officials have been scouring rural areas surrounding Istanbul for traces of Mr Khashoggi’s remains, which have since been discovered in the garden of the Saudi Consul General in Istanbul, according to reports.
The latest development came just hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded to know “where the corpse was” in a major public address.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has insisted it will hold to account those responsible for Mr Khashoggi’s killing and those who failed in their duties, the Saudi cabinet said after a meeting chaired by King Salman on Tuesday.