The United States Department of State is planning a major restructuring of its visa processing operations across Africa, reducing the number of embassies and consulates handling visa applications from nearly 50 to 20 designated hubs.
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According to an internal memo and three United States officials cited by The Associated Press on Monday, the new arrangement is expected to take effect in June, although no specific date has been announced.
Under the plan, visa processing for both immigrant and non-immigrant categories will be centralised in 20 designated locations across the continent.
The restructuring is part of the Trump administration’s broader immigration policy aimed at tightening visa issuance, strengthening security screening and reducing cases of visa overstays.
The report said United States diplomats, including consular chiefs, were briefed on the planned changes during a conference call last Friday.
Under a directive approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the State Department will scale down consular operations in all African countries except the 20 designated visa processing hubs.
Although consular sections in non-hub countries will remain open, their functions will be limited to services such as assisting American citizens with passport renewals, emergency consular support, special national interest cases and diplomatic visa processing.
In a statement, the State Department said it “is constantly evaluating its overseas operations in order to deploy taxpayer resources in a way that advances America’s priorities as efficiently and effectively as possible.”
It added that the review includes “a visa process that maintains rigorous standards of security screening and vetting and aligns resources and operational capacity with America’s national interests.”
The 20 designated visa processing hubs in Africa are Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire, Accra in Ghana, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Cape Town in South Africa, Dakar in Senegal, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Djibouti in Djibouti, Johannesburg in South Africa, Kampala in Uganda, Kigali in Rwanda, Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lagos in Nigeria, Lomé in Togo, Luanda in Angola, Malabo in Equatorial Guinea, Monrovia in Liberia, Nairobi in Kenya, Port Louis in Mauritius, Praia in Cape Verde and Yaoundé in Cameroon.
The decision means applicants from countries not listed as hubs may be required to travel to designated centres for visa interviews and processing.
This is expected to increase travel costs, logistical burdens and waiting times for many applicants across the continent.
The restructuring comes at a time when visa services in Africa have already been affected by several recent measures, including travel restrictions on some countries, new visa bond requirements of up to $15,000 for certain applicants and health-related disruptions linked to Ebola-related restrictions.
The planned reduction represents one of the most significant changes to United States visa processing access in Africa in recent years.
For Nigeria, Lagos has been listed among the 20 processing hubs, meaning the city is expected to remain a key centre for United States visa services under the new framework.
The policy is likely to generate concerns among applicants, travel agencies, students, workers and families across Africa, especially in countries where United States visa processing will no longer be handled locally.
The development also reflects the Trump administration’s continued emphasis on stricter immigration control, enhanced vetting and centralised processing of visa applications.
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