The United States plans to cut the number of its embassies and consulates in Africa that handle visa applications, reducing them from nearly 50 to about 20 locations.
The decision is part of a new arrangement from the U.S. government aimed at changing how visa services are managed across the continent.
According to reports based on an internal memo and discussions with officials, the instruction was passed to American diplomats during a conference call.
The plan was approved by the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, last week, with implementation expected to begin in June, although no exact date has been confirmed.
Under the new system, only selected locations will continue full visa processing services. These include Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire, Accra in Ghana, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa, Dakar in Senegal, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Djibouti, Kampala in Uganda, Kigali in Rwanda, Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lagos in Nigeria, Lomé in Togo, Luanda in Angola, Malabo in Equatorial Guinea, Monrovia in Liberia, Nairobi in Kenya, Port Louis in Mauritius, Praia in Cape Verde, and Yaoundé in Cameroon.
The reduction means applicants in many African countries may now need to travel to these designated centres for visa processing, which could make the process more costly and time-consuming. However, U.S. consular sections in countries that are not part of the selected hubs will continue limited operations.
These services will cover support for American citizens, passport renewals, emergency cases, selected visa matters, and diplomatic services.
The change comes at a time of stricter U.S. immigration rules, including tougher visa requirements and added financial conditions for some applicants, which have already affected travel plans for many people across Africa.
0 Comments
DISCLAIMER
The views and opinions expressed on this platform as comments were freely made by each person under his or her own volition or responsibility and were neither suggested nor dictated by the owners of News PLATFORM or any of their contracted staff. So we take no liability whatsoever for such comments.
Please take note!