The government of the United States has lifted visa restrictions on Ghana, restoring full visa privileges for Ghanaians.
The U.S. government announced that Ghanaians will no longer be entitled to three-month visas.
The decision to lift visa restrictions on Ghana was made known in a press statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Ghana.
This means Ghanaians will now be enjoying five years for B1/B2 visitor visas, allowing multiple entries and easing travel for business, tourism, and family visits.
The comes months after announcing a restriction that limited Ghanaians to a maximum of three-month single-entry visas.
The same restrictive measure was also imposed on Nigeria at the same time in July this year.
The statement issued by the U.S Embassy in Ghana reads: “The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce that the maximum validity periods for all categories of non-immigrant visas for Ghanaians have been restored to their previous lengths.
“The maximum validity allowed for the B1/B2 visitor visa is again five years, multiple entry. The maximum validity for the F1 student visa is again four years, multiple entry.”
Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Ablakwa has reacted to the decision of the U.S. to lift visa restrictions on Ghana
Ablakwa described the reversal as a result of months of diplomatic engagement.
He said: “Big win for Ghana!
“The US visa restrictions imposed on Ghana have been reversed.
“Ghanaians can now be eligible for five-year multiple-entry visas and other enhanced consular privileges.
“This good news was directly communicated to me by US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Allison Hooker at a bilateral meeting earlier today, in the margins of the UN General Assembly.
“I am really pleased that months of high-level diplomatic negotiations have led to a successful outcome.
“It will be recalled that the US imposed visa restrictions on Ghana and other countries in July this year. The affected countries were slapped with a maximum three-month single-entry visa and other limitations. In the specific case of Ghana, the Trump Administration said they were reacting to many years of visa overstays mainly by students.
“It’s good to see healthier and stronger Ghana and USA relations.
For God and Country,” he added.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the restoration of visa privileges for Ghanians comes after the country’s recent decision to accept African deportees from the U.S.
Recall that Ghana’s President, John Dramani Mahama recently announced that his administration had accepted some West African deportees from the U.S. He justified the decision by saying West Africans “don’t need a visa anyway” to come to Ghana.
This also comes after Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar had linked the visa restrictions on Nigeria to the country’s decision to reject Venezuelan deportees.
He had declared that Nigeria would not serve as a “dumping ground” for deportees.
“It would be difficult for countries like Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria. “We have enough problems of our own; we cannot accept Venezuelan deportees to Nigeria. We already have 230 million people,” Tuggar said during a televised interview.
