MONROVIA – Liberia has been retained as one of only 20 visa-processing hubs in Africa under a reported U.S. government plan to significantly reduce the number of embassies and consulates handling visa applications across the continent.
According to three U.S. officials and an internal memorandum obtained by the Associated Press, the United States intends to reduce the nearly 50 African diplomatic missions currently processing visa applications to just 20 designated hubs. The changes are expected to take effect in June, although no official implementation date has been announced.
Under the new arrangement, citizens of countries that do not host a designated visa-processing center will be required to travel to one of the approved hubs to apply for U.S. visas, a move expected to increase travel costs and logistical challenges for many applicants.
Monrovia is among the 20 locations selected to continue processing all categories of U.S. visas. As a result, citizens and residents of neighboring Guinea and Sierra Leone may be required to travel to either Liberia or Côte d’Ivoire to complete their visa applications if their countries are not designated as hubs.
The approved visa-processing hubs are located in Monrovia (Liberia), Accra (Ghana), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Cape Town and Johannesburg (South Africa), Dakar (Senegal), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Kampala (Uganda), Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Kigali (Rwanda), Kinshasa (DR Congo), Lagos (Nigeria), Lomé (Togo), Luanda (Angola), Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Djibouti City (Djibouti), Nairobi (Kenya), Port Louis (Mauritius), Praia (Cape Verde), and Yaoundé (Cameroon).
South Africa is the only country with two designated visa-processing hubs under the reported plan.
The U.S. government has not yet publicly announced the changes, and further details on implementation are expected in the coming weeks.
