The United States has identified 19 African countries that will serve as regional visa-processing hubs under a proposed overhaul of its consular operations on the continent, a move that could significantly reshape how millions of Africans access US visas.
The US plans to reduce its African visa-processing sites from 50 to 20 regional hubs across 19 countries.
Applicants from countries losing local visa services will need to travel to these hubs for consular appointments.
According to an internal State Department memo cited by the Associated Press, Washington plans to reduce the number of embassies and consulates in Africa handling visa applications from 50 to just 20 processing locations.
The selected hubs are located in: Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Accra, Ghana; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Cape Town, Johannesburg, South Africa; Dakar, Senegal; Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania; Djibouti, Djibouti; Kampala, Uganda; Kigali, Rwanda; Kinshasa, Congo.
Others include Lagos, Nigeria; Lome, Togo; Luanda, Angola; Malabo, Equatorial Guinea; Monrovia, Liberia; Nairobi, Kenya; Port Louis, Mauritius; Praia, Cape Verde; and Yaounde, Cameroon.
South Africa hosts two of the designated centers, in Cape Town and Johannesburg, bringing the total number of processing hubs to 20.
Citizens from neighboring countries that lose visa-processing services may be required to travel to these hubs for interviews, biometric appointments and other consular procedures.
For example, applicants from countries such as Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi and Mozambique could be redirected to South Africa, while travelers from parts of West Africa may increasingly rely on hubs in Ghana, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire or Nigeria.
The proposal is part of a broader restructuring of US diplomatic and immigration operations under President Donald Trump’s administration, which has prioritised stricter immigration controls and greater efficiency in consular services.
The changes could be particularly challenging for students, entrepreneurs and business travellers who often operate under tight deadlines and may need to make additional cross-border trips before reaching the United States.
If implemented, the overhaul would represent one of the most significant changes to US visa operations in Africa in recent years, creating a new map of regional visa hubs while potentially reducing direct access to American consular services across much of the continent.
Contacted for comment last evening, the US Embassy in Banjul told The Standard: The Department of State is constantly evaluating its overseas operations in order to advance America’s priorities as efficiently and effectively as possible. We have nothing further to announce at this time.”
In case of updates to the visa application or interview process, we share details on our website and directly inform any affected applicants.
