MONROVIA, June 2, 2026 -- Liberia will remain one of 20 U.S. visa-processing hubs in Africa under a planned State Department restructuring that would scale back routine visa services at dozens of other embassies and consulates across the continent.

The change, reported by multiple outlets citing an internal State Department memo and U.S. officials, would reduce the number of visa-processing posts in Africa from nearly 50 to 20 in the coming weeks. Reports said the directive was approved by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to tighten immigration controls and consolidate consular operations.

If implemented, the policy would make Monrovia one of a limited number of locations where applicants in the region could continue to seek routine U.S. visa services without being redirected to another country.

Under the reported plan, embassies and consulates that are not designated as hubs would remain open but would be limited largely to services for U.S. citizens, emergency consular assistance, diplomatic visas and select special-interest cases.

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The reported hub locations are Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Cape Town, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Djibouti, Johannesburg, Kampala, Kigali, Kinshasa, Lagos, Lomé, Luanda, Malabo, Monrovia, Nairobi, Port Louis, Praia and Yaoundé.

In Monrovia, some residents interviewed on Tuesday welcomed the decision, saying continued visa services in Liberia could spare applicants the cost and difficulty of traveling abroad for interviews and processing.

James Jallah, identified as an intellectual at the Center for the Exchange of Intellectual Opinion, said the move was positive for Liberia and also highlighted concerns about visa overstays, which U.S. officials have cited in broader efforts to tighten visa rules.

U.S. officials had not publicly announced a final implementation date as of Tuesday, but reports said the consolidation could begin later this month.