Kampala has been retained as one of only 20 US visa processing hubs in Africa under a major restructuring plan by the administration of President Donald Trump, positioning Uganda as a key regional gateway for travelers seeking entry to the United States.
While Kampala remains among the 20 African cities selected to retain full US visa-processing services, diplomatic observers note that the broader trend among Western governments has been toward regionalization.
Nairobi has increasingly emerged as East Africa’s diplomatic and consular hub, hosting regional operations for several countries that have scaled back services elsewhere in the region.
The latest move by Washington, detailed in an internal State Department memo first reported by The Associated Press, will see the number of African embassies and consulates processing visas reduced from nearly 50 to just 20, as part of a broader effort to centralise consular operations and tighten immigration controls.
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According to the memo, the 20 remaining “hubs” will include Kampala, alongside cities such as Nairobi, Kigali, Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg, Lagos, Accra, Addis Ababa and others spread across the continent.
While Kampala’s inclusion places Uganda among a smaller group of countries still offering full visa-processing services, questions are already emerging over whether this reflects a long-term strategic choice or a temporary position within a wider consolidation trend.
Over the past decade, several European countries have already shifted consular and migration processing functions away from smaller missions toward regional centres, with Nairobi increasingly emerging as a key East African hub.
Norway closed its embassy in Kampala on July 31, 2024. Since then, diplomatic relations with Uganda have been handled by the Norwegian Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, while all visa applications for Norway from Uganda are processed through the Norwegian Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.
In a similar pattern, Sweden has centralised much of its migration processing through Nairobi. While the Swedish Embassy in Kampala continues to operate and provide consular assistance, migration-related applications and inquiries are directed to Nairobi, with interviews and biometric collection in some cases still handled in Uganda.
Several other European countries also rely on outsourced visa application centres linked to regional hubs, meaning Ugandan applicants are already accustomed to submitting documentation through systems that are not always located within their own country.
Against this backdrop, analysts say the U.S. decision, while significant, fits into a broader global shift toward fewer, larger visa-processing centres that serve multiple countries.
The key question, however, is whether Kampala is part of this new stable network or simply benefiting from a transitional phase in which Washington is still determining the optimal distribution of its global consular footprint.
The concern among some observers is that East Africa’s visa ecosystem is gradually being pulled toward Nairobi, which has already emerged as a dominant regional hub for diplomatic and administrative services across multiple Western governments.
However, Kampala’s position may be reinforced by several structural factors that differentiate it from other African posts.
Uganda hosts one of the largest US diplomatic missions in East Africa and remains a key partner in regional peacekeeping and security cooperation, particularly in counterterrorism operations.
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The embassy also handles substantial visa demand, which strengthens its case as a viable long-term processing hub.
The State Department’s decision to include Kampala among the 20 approved hubs suggests that, at least in the current phase of restructuring, the mission meets Washington’s operational thresholds for security screening, staffing capacity and demand management.
For Ugandan applicants, the immediate impact is limited: visa processing will continue in Kampala.
However, the broader regional shift raises longer-term questions about whether future consolidations could further concentrate services in a smaller number of East African capitals, with Nairobi often seen as the leading candidate in such scenarios.
For now, Kampala remains firmly within the United States’ reduced but strategic network of visa-processing hubs in Africa — even as the long-term shape of that network continues to evolve.