- The U.S. has concentrated visa processing into 20 regional hubs across 19 African nations.
- Applicants must now travel across borders for routine visa interviews and consular services.
- New policies require temporary residents to return home for green cards rather than adjusting status.
(AFRICA) — The United States has designated 20 regional visa-processing hubs across 19 African countries, cutting routine visa-processing services from nearly 50 sites as part of an embassy overhaul that pushes more applicants into consular processing from abroad.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio approved the directive last week, and embassies and consulates outside the hub network will stop routine visa services and focus on emergency services for U.S. citizens.
The shift reshapes how African applicants will seek U.S. visas across the continent. It also intersects with a broader immigration policy change that now requires most people seeking permanent residence from temporary status in the United States to leave and apply abroad.
Free toolDS-160 Form Filling Online Helper ToolThe hub cities are Luanda in Angola, Yaoundé in Cameroon, Praia in Cape Verde, Kinshasa in Congo (DRC), Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti in Djibouti, Malabo in Equatorial Guinea, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Accra in Ghana, Nairobi in Kenya, Monrovia in Liberia, Port Louis in Mauritius, Lagos in Nigeria, Kigali in Rwanda, Dakar in Senegal, Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Lomé in Togo, and Kampala in Uganda.
Every other U.S. embassy and consulate in Africa will cease routine visa services under the plan. Applicants in countries outside the hub list will need to cross borders for interviews and other consular steps.
The overhaul comes days after a May 22, 2026, USCIS policy memo that sharply restricts Adjustment of Status, the process that lets some people apply for a green card from inside the United States. Most applicants, including students and temporary workers, must now return to their home countries and use regional hubs for consular processing.
Zach Kahler, USCIS spokesperson, said on May 22, 2026: “We’re returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly. From now on, an alien who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances. This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivizing loopholes.”
Kahler added in remarks reported on May 23, 2026: “When aliens apply from their home country, it reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the U.S. illegally after being denied residency.”
A State Department official said on June 1, 2026 that the department is “constantly evaluating overseas operations, including a visa process that maintains rigorous standards of security screening and vetting.”
That language tracks the administration’s explanation for the embassy overhaul. By concentrating staff and interviews in fewer locations, officials aim to centralize screening and vetting as they tighten immigration controls.
The changes sit inside a wider set of 2026 actions. The administration has also imposed a pause on immigrant visas for 75 countries and travel bans for 39 countries, many of them in Africa, for people deemed at risk of relying on public assistance.
Routine visa-processing services in Africa now turn on geography in a way they did not before. A person in Mali, Botswana or Zimbabwe, examples cited in the policy discussion, will no longer complete the usual process at a local U.S. post if that country lacks a hub.
Airfare, lodging and border crossings now become part of the application cost for many families. So do the logistical risks of reaching a hub city, securing an appointment and waiting for a decision outside one’s home country.
Applicants already in the United States face another hazard if they must leave to pursue consular processing. Departure can trigger three- or ten-year re-entry bars for people who previously overstayed a visa, leaving them stranded abroad while their cases proceed.
That consequence lands heavily on people who had expected to pursue Adjustment of Status inside the United States. Under the new USCIS approach, that path narrows to extraordinary circumstances.
The practical effect is a redirection of immigration casework from domestic filings to overseas posts. African hubs now become focal points not only for local residents but also for nationals returning from the United States to complete immigrant visa steps.
Johannesburg and Cape Town give South Africa the only two hub cities on the continent. Every other country on the list has one designated center.
Nigeria keeps Lagos as a hub, while Kenya retains Nairobi and Ghana keeps Accra. Ethiopia remains in the network through Addis Ababa, and Senegal through Dakar.
Central African processing will run through cities including Kinshasa, Yaoundé and Malabo. In West Africa, the list also includes Monrovia, Lomé, Praia and Abidjan.
East African applicants will look to Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Kampala, Kigali, Dar es Salaam and Djibouti. Southern routes narrow to Johannesburg, Cape Town, Luanda and Port Louis.
The United States has not framed the plan as a temporary adjustment. Officials tied it to the same policy rationale driving tighter rules on green card processing for people already in the country on temporary visas.
That marks a shift away from the more flexible use of Adjustment of Status and toward consular processing as the default route. The government says the approach reduces overstays and strengthens vetting by requiring applicants to complete the process from their home countries.
Applicants and families now face a compressed map for routine visa-processing services across a vast region. Fewer processing sites mean more demand concentrated in fewer cities, with each post expected to absorb cases that previously would have been spread across dozens of embassies and consulates.
Embassies and consulates that lose routine visa work will continue emergency services for U.S. citizens. The change leaves routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa activity concentrated at the designated hubs.
The overhaul also changes planning for lawyers, employers and schools dealing with cross-border mobility. Students and temporary workers who hoped to adjust status after entering the United States will now confront a system built around departure and interview scheduling overseas.
Consular processing has long been a standard route for immigrant visas, but the May 22, 2026 memo makes it the required path for most applicants in temporary status. That rule now links directly to the African embassy overhaul because the continent’s routine visa infrastructure has been cut to 20 hubs.
People checking where to file or interview can look to the USCIS newsroom for the policy memo issued on May 22, 2026, the State Department’s visa updates for the hub list and the Department of Homeland Security newsroom for enforcement actions. The government pages are [USCIS Newsroom](https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/all-news), [Department of State visa updates](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas.html) and [DHS Newsroom](https://www.dhs.gov/newsroom).
The map now runs through Luanda, Yaoundé, Praia, Kinshasa, Abidjan, Djibouti, Malabo, Addis Ababa, Accra, Nairobi, Monrovia, Port Louis, Lagos, Kigali, Dakar, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Dar es Salaam, Lomé and Kampala, cities that will handle routine U.S. visa work for a continent where many applicants must now travel farther, wait longer and complete more of the process away from home.
