US State Department to Slash African Visa Processing Centers

The US State Department plans to drastically slash the number of its embassies and consulates in Africa that can process visas for foreigners seeking to come to the United States, according to media reports.

The move is part of the Trump administration’s effort to crack down on issuing both immigrant and non-immigrant visas as part of its broader aim to limit immigration to the US and clamp down on those who travel on temporary visas but then overstay them.

Under a directive approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week, the State Department will reduce consular operations in all but 20 “hubs” in Africa, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

The AP cited a conference call last Friday, where US diplomats, including consular chiefs, were told Washington would be scaling back its visa services across Africa.

Currently there are around 50 US embassies and consulates processing visa applications in Africa, and that number is expected to be significantly reduced to 20 in the coming weeks, according to the reports.

There is not yet a set date for the change, but the move is expected this month, in June.

Visa processing in Africa has already been affected by a travel ban on certain countries as well as a requirement for applicants to post up to a $15,000 (€12,891) bond in order to apply and, more recently, by restrictions caused by the Ebola outbreak.

The new rules mean that a citizen of a non-hub country will have to travel to one of the 20 approved sites, which could pose formidable travel challenges and costs.

Consular sections in non-hub countries are expected to stay open but be limited in the services they can offer according to the reports.

They will still be able to assist American citizens with passport renewals and emergency consular requests as well as special national interest cases and diplomatic visa applications.

The Trump administration has already scaled back personnel at embassies and consulates around the world since coming into office.