LUSAKA TO LOSE U.S VISA-PROCESSING FUNCTIONS AFTER STATE DEPT. DIRECTIVE
The U.S Embassy in Lusaka is set to stop processing visa applications as the State Department plans to cut the number of visa-processing embassies across the continent from nearly 50 to just 20 in the coming weeks.
The changes mean that applicants in countries whose embassies lose visa-processing functions may be required to travel to one of the designated hubs to submit applications, attend interviews, or complete other immigration procedures
Zambians planning to get U.S visa will be required to apply through the Dar-es-Salaam, Cape Town or Johannesburg as nearest processing centres.
According to the Associated Press (AP),
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is said to have approved the directive, which is expected to take effect this month, but the exact implementation date has not been officially confirmed.
Here are the cities selected as a regional processing hub expected to become key centres handling visa applications from neighbouring countries once the changes take effect:
Other selected centres include Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Accra (Ghana), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Cape Town and Johannesburg (South Africa), Dakar (Senegal), Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania), Djibouti City (Djibouti), Kampala (Uganda), Kigali (Rwanda), Kinshasa (DR Congo), Lagos (Nigeria), Lome (Togo), Luanda (Angola), Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Monrovia (Liberia), Port Louis (Mauritius), Praia (Cape Verde), Nairobi (Kenya) and Yaounde (Cameroon).
The Vital