The United States Department of State is planning a major overhaul of its consular operations in Africa that will drastically reduce the number of embassies and consulates authorised to process visas for foreign travellers. The current network of nearly 50 visa-processing locations across the continent will be scaled down to just 20 regional hubs in the coming weeks.
According to an internal State Department memo and three U.S. officials who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, the restructuring is expected to take effect sometime in June. Under a directive approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, routine immigrant and non-immigrant visa applications will be centralised entirely within these 20 designated hubs, stripping processing capabilities from up to 30 African countries.
The consolidation is part of the Trump administration’s broader immigration policy focused on limiting overall immigration to the United States. Officials state that the primary drivers behind the policy are to crack down on individuals who overstay temporary visas and to scale back federal personnel footprints at diplomatic posts globally.
While the State Department did not publicly address the specific details of the internal memo, it defended its ongoing logistics reviews. In an official statement reported by PBS, the department noted 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". The department added that this operational strategy includes maintaining "rigorous standards of security screening and vetting" that align directly with national interests.
U.S. diplomatic staff and consular chiefs across Africa were reportedly briefed on the sweeping changes during a closed conference call, according to an official who participated in the meeting. Key metropolitan centers such as Johannesburg, Lagos, Nairobi, Abidjan, and Accra have been identified among the locations retaining full visa services.
Consular sections operating in non-hub countries will remain open but will pivot away from processing standard traveller visas. Their functions will be limited to providing essential services to American citizens, such as emergency consular support and passport renewals, alongside handling diplomatic visas and special national interest cases.
The policy shift is expected to introduce severe logistical and financial barriers for millions of African nationals seeking entry into the U.S. for business, tourism, or education. Citizens residing in non-hub nations will now be forced to manage expensive international travel, secure regional transit permits, and coordinate overnight accommodations just to attend their mandatory face-to-face consular interviews.
This restructuring layer builds upon existing regional travel hurdles, which already include localized travel bans, strict security screening, and an administration pilot program requiring some visa applicants to post bonds of up to $15,000.