The United States has announced that it will transfer routine visa processing for Abuja and 24 other African cities to designated regional hubs from August 1.
In a statement published on its website, the US Department of State (DoS) said the realignment is part of the Donald Trump administration’s broader push to strengthen national security, promote more uniform screening, vetting, and adjudication standards, and improving operational efficiency.
Other countries affected by the directive include Antananarivo (Madagascar), Asmara (Eritrea), Bamako (Mali), Banjul (The Gambia), Brazzaville (Republic of the 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).
Under the new arrangement, routine visa services currently handled in Abuja will be processed through Lagos.
The cities that will serve as regional hubs 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 (Cape Verde), and Yaoundé (Cameroon).
According to reports, applicants in Mali will process their applications through Dakar, Senegal, while those in Benin Republic and Niger Republic will go through Lome, Togo.
The DoS said citizens and residents of affected countries seeking US visas from August 1 must schedule appointments and pay visa application fees at the appropriate designated non-immigrant or immigrant visa processing locations.
The department said the realignment follows a long-standing practice of consolidating visa operations into regional hubs, noting that similar arrangements have already been implemented in several African countries and parts of Europe.
“President Trump is putting America and Americans first by strengthening national security, cutting government waste, and ensuring government works in the interests of the American people,” the statement reads.
“The Department of State is constantly evaluating its overseas operations in order to advance America’s priorities as efficiently and effectively as possible.
“The U.S. Department of State is realigning visa operations in Africa to regional hubs, part of a long-standing Department practice that strengthens national security by promoting more uniform screening, vetting, and adjudication standards, as well as improves efficiency.
“Realigning visa services to designated hubs has already been successful with several African nations, and in Europe as well.”
It added that the visa process would continue to maintain “rigorous standards of security screening and vetting” while aligning resources and operational capacity with US national interests.
The department also said the realignment of routine visa processing would not affect the operating status of embassies and consulates.