U.S. to Cut African Visa‑Processing Embassies to 20 Regional Hubs

The U.S. State Department will reduce the number of embassies and consulates in Africa that process immigrant and non‑immigrant visas from roughly 50 to 20 designated “hubs.” The change, approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is expected to take effect in June. The 20 hubs will be located in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Accra (Ghana), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Cape Town and Johannesburg (South Africa), Dakar (Senegal), Dar‑Es‑Salaam (Tanzania), Djibouti (Djibouti), Kampala (Uganda), Kigali (Rwanda), Kinshasa (DR Congo), Lagos (Nigeria), Lome (Togo), Luanda (Angola), Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Monrovia (Liberia), Nairobi (Kenya), Port Louis (Mauritius), Praia (Cape Verde) and Yaounde (Cameroon). Consular sections in non‑hub posts will remain open but will provide only limited services such as passport renewals for U.S. citizens, emergency assistance and diplomatic visas.

The restructuring is part of the Trump administration’s broader immigration‑control agenda. It follows earlier measures that imposed travel bans on certain African countries, required applicants to post bonds of up to $15,000, and temporarily limited services during the Ebola outbreak. Applicants from countries losing hub status will need to travel to one of the remaining sites, facing higher travel costs and longer wait times.

U.S. officials say the consolidation will improve security vetting and allocate taxpayer resources more efficiently, while critics warn it will create substantial barriers for African travelers seeking entry to the United States.