Planning a US trip from Africa? You might soon need to book a flight to another country just to attend your visa interview.

Here’s the gist, as first reported by cbinewstv, the United States is about to dramatically scale back where Africans can apply for visas.

According to an internal State Department memo seen by cbinewstv, and confirmed by three US officials, Washington plans to cut the number of embassies and consulates processing visas across Africa from nearly 50 down to just 20. No firm start date has been given, but the change is expected to kick in this June.

Why now? It’s part of President Donald Trump’s administration’s wider push to tighten immigration controls. The idea, officials say, is to reduce both immigrant and non-immigrant visas, clamp down on visitors who overstay, and trim staffing at diplomatic missions worldwide.

The directive was signed last week by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. On a conference call last Friday, US diplomats and consular chiefs were told to expect a “substantial” cutback.

It’s not coming out of nowhere. Visa processing in Africa has already been messy, think travel restrictions on certain countries, new financial bond requirements for some applicants, and extra limits linked to recent Ebola-related measures.

What this actually means for you:

If your country isn’t one of the 20 chosen hubs, you’ll have to travel abroad to submit your application and do your in-person interview. That’s extra flights, hotels, and hassle, especially for families or first-time applicants.

The embassies that are left out won’t close completely. They’ll still help US citizens with passport renewals, handle emergencies, and process diplomatic visas or cases deemed in the US national interest. But for regular tourist, student, or work visas? You’ll be redirected.

When asked about it, the State Department didn’t deny the memo but told cbinews.tv it is “constantly evaluating its overseas operations in order to deploy taxpayer resources in a way that advances America’s priorities as efficiently and effectively as possible,” adding that the visa process must “maintain rigorous standards of security screening and vetting.”

The 20 African cities that will KEEP full visa services:

Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Accra (Ghana), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Cape Town and Johannesburg (South Africa), Dakar (Senegal), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Djibouti, Kampala (Uganda), Kigali (Rwanda), Kinshasa (DR Congo), Lagos (Nigeria), Lomé (Togo), Luanda (Angola), Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Monrovia (Liberia), Nairobi (Kenya), Port Louis (Mauritius), Praia (Cape Verde) and Yaoundé (Cameroon).

Good news for Nigerians, Lagos stays as a hub. But if you’re in, say, Abuja for convenience, or in neighbouring countries like Benin, Niger or Chad without a hub, you’ll likely be heading to Accra, Lomé or Yaoundé instead.

It’s a big logistical shift, and one to watch if you’ve got US travel plans this summer.

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