State Department to cut visa-processing sites in Africa from nearly 50 to 20
The department will consolidate operations at 20 designated hubs across the continent. Non-hub posts will retain limited services for U.S. citizens and special cases. The change is scheduled to take effect in June.
upi.comThe State Department plans to reduce the number of U.S. embassies and consulates in Africa that process visas from nearly 50 to 20. The reduction is expected in June, according to three U.S. officials and an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press.
The directive, approved last week, designates 20 hubs that will continue full visa processing. The listed locations 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.
Remaining services at non-hub posts Consular sections in countries without hub status will stay open but will stop routine visa processing. They will continue to handle passport renewals for U.S. citizens, emergency consular requests, special national-interest cases, and diplomatic visa applications.
Applicants from non-hub countries will need to travel to one of the 20 hubs. Officials noted that the change follows earlier limits on visa issuance and additional requirements such as bonds of up to $15,000 for some applicants.
Background and stated rationale Visa processing in Africa has already been affected by a travel ban on certain countries and by restrictions tied to the Ebola outbreak. The State Department said it is evaluating overseas operations to align resources with national interests and maintain security screening standards.
On a conference call last Friday, consular chiefs were informed of the scaling back of visa services across Africa. The department did not provide a specific implementation date beyond the June expectation.
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