The United States government has named 20 cities across Africa that will serve as regional hubs for routine visa processing, as part of a broader realignment of consular services on the continent. Under the new arrangement, applicants across Africa are expected to use the nearest designated diplomatic post for routine visa applications, rather than the embassy or consulate closest to their location, according to Vanguard reports.
Full List of the 20 Regional Visa Hubs
The 20 cities selected by the US government for routine visa processing are:
- Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
- 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, Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Lagos, Nigeria
- Lomé, Togo
- Luanda, Angola
- Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
- Monrovia, Liberia
- Nairobi, Kenya
- Port Louis, Mauritius
- Praia, Cabo Verde
- Yaoundé, Cameroon
The 20 hubs span 19 countries, as South Africa features twice with both Cape Town and Johannesburg on the list. Lagos is the only Nigerian city designated as a regional hub, meaning applicants who would ordinarily apply in Abuja will need to look elsewhere for routine visa processing.
What the Change Means for Excluded Posts
The US government has been clear that posts left off the routine visa processing list are not closing. Embassies and consulates not included among the 20 hubs will continue to carry out other diplomatic and consular functions on behalf of the United States. The change affects only where routine visa applications are processed, not the broader operational status of American diplomatic missions across the continent. Applicants in countries without a designated hub will need to identify the nearest regional location for their visa appointments.
Related Development: US Seeks to Strip Nigerian Fraud Convict of Citizenship
In a previously published report, United States authorities have moved to revoke the citizenship of a Nigerian national convicted for his role in a sprawling identity theft and tax fraud operation that targeted hundreds of thousands of victims and sought tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent refunds. The United States Department of Justice disclosed that it filed a civil complaint seeking to strip Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem of his American citizenship.
