Africa-Press – Rwanda. The United States will implement a comprehensive plan to restructure visa services in Sub-Saharan Africa starting August 1, 2026. This plan involves halting visa processing at more than 25 embassies and consulates, consolidating these services into 20 regional centers spread across 19 countries. This move is considered the largest of its kind in recent years regarding the reorganization of American diplomatic presence.
The decision is part of a plan initiated by the State Department under the Trump administration, which includes reducing the number of U.S. embassies and consulates authorized to issue visas worldwide, with the closure of around 30 diplomatic missions, marking the largest reduction of U.S. diplomatic presence in modern history.
Sub-Saharan African countries will be the most affected by this step, while North African countries will not be included in the restructuring, meaning Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt will not be impacted by the new measures.
Under the decision, 25 U.S. embassies and consulates in 25 African countries will stop receiving and processing immigration and non-immigration visa applications starting August 1, 2026. The State Department has urged applicants with pre-scheduled appointments at these missions to check their emails for instructions regarding rescheduling or any other procedures related to their applications.
The department also clarified that applicants who have already paid visa fees at the consulates that will cease these services must schedule their appointments before July 31, 2026.
As a result, the number of U.S. embassies and consulates processing visa applications in Sub-Saharan Africa will be reduced from about 50 missions to only 20 regional centers, distributed across 19 countries, with two centers allocated in South Africa, one in Cape Town and the other in Johannesburg.
Cities where visa services will cease include Antananarivo (Madagascar), Abuja (Nigeria), Asmara (Eritrea), Bamako (Mali), Banjul (Gambia), Brazzaville (Congo), Bujumbura (Burundi), Conakry (Guinea), Cotonou (Benin), Durban (South Africa), Freetown (Sierra Leone), Gaborone (Botswana), Harare (Zimbabwe), Juba (South Sudan), Libreville (Gabon), Lilongwe (Malawi), Lusaka (Zambia), Maputo (Mozambique), Maseru (Lesotho), Mbabane (Eswatini), N’Djamena (Chad), Niamey (Niger), Nouakchott (Mauritania), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), and Windhoek (Namibia).
New regional centers will handle visa applications in cities such as Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Djibouti, Kampala, Kigali, Kinshasa, Lagos, Lome, Luanda, Malabo, Monrovia, Nairobi, Port Louis, and Praia, in addition to Yaoundé.
Each regional center will be responsible for processing visa applications from several neighboring countries. For example, the Dakar center will handle applications from Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, and Guinea.
The Southern African region will be the most affected by the restructuring, relying on only three centers, two of which are in South Africa and the third in Angola’s capital, Luanda, while the West African region will have seven regional centers serving 16 countries.
The new system is expected to impose additional financial and logistical burdens on applicants for U.S. visas, as citizens from countries where visa centers have closed will need to travel to another country for personal interviews and biometric data registration, whether for tourist, study, or immigration visas. This means incurring travel and accommodation costs, and in some cases, obtaining a visa to enter the country where the regional center is located.
Observers believe these measures align with the Trump administration’s policy aimed at tightening immigration procedures by making visa acquisition more complicated, alongside other restrictions imposed by Washington, such as travel bans on citizens from certain African countries and requiring citizens from other countries to provide financial guarantees that could reach up to $15,000 when applying for a visa, which would be refunded upon their return to their home country if they comply with the specified duration of stay.
The State Department has confirmed that the reorganization will not lead to the complete closure of any embassy or consulate, clarifying that the missions included in the plan will continue to operate but will be limited to providing consular services, including assistance to American citizens and processing exceptional cases related to national interest or diplomatic visas.
