The United States is set to significantly reduce the number of visa processing centers across Africa, a move that will consolidate operations into 20 regional hubs and effectively halt routine visa services at many embassies.
This decision, part of a broader Trump administration initiative, is expected to create substantial challenges for African visa applicants, increasing travel costs and wait times.
According to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press and confirmed by U.S. officials, the State Department will scale back its visa processing capabilities from nearly 50 embassies and consulates to just 20 designated hubs in the coming weeks.
This directive, approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in late May 2026, aims to streamline consular operations and align with administration’s efforts to limit immigration and address visa overstays.
For countries like Burundi, this means the U.S. Embassy in Bujumbura will no longer process routine immigrant and non- immigrant visas for the general public.
While the embassy will remain open to provide essential services such as American Citizen Services (ACS), passport renewals, emergency consular assistance, diplomatic visa applications, Burundian citizens seeking U.S. visas will now be required to travel to one of the designated regional hubs for their interviews.
The nearest hubs for Burundian applicants are likely to be Kigali, Rwanda, or Kampala, Uganda. The list of the 20 designated visa processing hubs in Africa includes:
Abidjan in Ivory Coast, Accra in Ghana, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Cape Town in South Africa, Dakar in Senegal, Dar-Es- Salaam in Tanzania, Djibouti in Djibouti,
Johannesburg in South Africa, Kampala, in Uganda, Kigali in Rwanda, Kinshasa, in DR Congo.
Also, Lagos in Nigeria, Lome in Togo, Luanda in Angola, Malabo in Equatorial Guinea, Monrovia in Liberia, Nairobi in Kenya, Port Louis in Mauritius, Praia in Cape Verde and Yaounde in Cameroon.
This consolidation is not an isolated policy. It follows the expansion of the State Department’s “Visa Bond Pilot Program” earlier in 2026, allows consular officers to require non- immigrant visa applicants from approximately 50, many of them African, to post a bond of up to $15,000.
This measure is intended to deter visa
overstays, but critics argue it places an undue financial burden on applicants.
Further complicating travel for African citizens is the recent outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in May and June 2026.
The U.S. has responded by implementing enhanced screening and the travel restrictions for individuals from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan, and Uganda.
These restrictions could make travel to designated visa hubs like Kinshasa and Kampala even more challenging and costly for applicants from affected regions.
The African Union Commission has voiced strong criticism of these U.S. policies, describing as “disproportionate” and detrimental to diplomatic and economic relations between the U.S. and African nations.
The AU contends that the combination of reduced visa services, stringent bond requirements, and travel bans effectively creates a “virtual wall” around African continent, hindering legitimate travel and exchange.
The new policy is expected to disproportionately affect citizens of non-hub countries, who will now face increased financial burdens and logistical hurdles to obtain U.S. visas.
This could have significant implications for educational, economic, and cultural exchanges between the United States and Africa.
