State Department to Consolidate African Visa Processing into 20 Hubs

U.S. embassies and consulates in Africa that process visas from almost 50 to 20. The change is expected in June 2026, though no exact date has been set.

A directive approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week designates 20 locations as hubs that will continue full visa processing. The remaining consular sections will stay open but will handle only passport renewals for American citizens, emergency consular requests, special national interest cases, and diplomatic visa applications.

The 20 hubs are Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Accra, Ghana; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Cape Town, South Africa; Dakar, Senegal; Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania; Djibouti, Djibouti; Johannesburg, South Africa; Kampala, Uganda; Kigali, Rwanda; Kinshasa, Congo; Lagos, Nigeria; Lome, Togo; Luanda, Angola; Malabo, Equatorial Guinea; Monrovia, Liberia; Nairobi, Kenya; Port Louis, Mauritius; Praia, Cape Verde; and Yaounde, Cameroon.

U.S. diplomats, including consular chiefs, learned of the scaling back during a conference call last Friday. Three officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said the reduction forms part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to limit both immigrant and non-immigrant visas and to address overstays on temporary visas.

Visa processing in Africa has already been constrained by a travel ban on certain countries, a requirement that applicants post bonds of up to $15,000, and recent restrictions tied to the Ebola outbreak. Citizens of countries without a hub will now have to travel to one of the 20 approved sites.

The State Department said it is constantly evaluating overseas operations to deploy taxpayer resources efficiently and that its visa process maintains rigorous standards of security screening and vetting aligned with national interests.

President Donald Trump spoke during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, next to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The internal memo detailing the hubs was obtained by The Associated Press. Matthew Lee and Sam Mednick reported the story; Mednick filed from Tel Aviv.