US lifts Ghana’s visa restrictions after accepting West African deportees

The United States lifts visa ban on Ghana The United States lifts visa ban on Ghana

The United States has lifted the visa restrictions imposed on Ghana.

This comes a few weeks after Ghana accepted US deportees from Nigeria and other West African countries.

In a post on X, the country’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Ablakwa, announced that the new policy now allows citizens to apply for five-year multiple-entry visas.

He also stated the reversal of the restrictions comes with other enhanced consular privileges, adding that the development was the result of months of diplomatic engagement.

“The US visa restriction imposed on Ghana has 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,” he tweeted.

Also confirming, @USEmbassyinGhana said: “The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce that the maximum validity periods for all categories of nonimmigrant 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.”

In July, the US government introduced sweeping changes to its non-immigrant visa policy for Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, and Ethiopia by reducing the duration of visa validity for citizens.

It declared that all non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to citizens of the four countries will now be single-entry and valid for only three months.

Previously, the country issued a two-year and five-year visa with multiple entries.

The US Department of State described the policy as part of its global visa reciprocity process, aimed at addressing how American citizens are treated in those countries and, in some cases, concerns related to visa overstays.

However, two months later, Ghana received 14 US deportees from Nigeria and other West African countries, joining Eswatini, Rwanda, and South Sudan on the list of African countries that have received deportees from the US since President Donald Trump’s return to office.

Ghana’s President John Mahama stated that the country agreed to receive West African deportees because the ECOWAS protocol on free movement already allows nationals from the region to enter the country without a visa.

“We agreed with (Washington) that West African nationals were acceptable because all our fellow West African nationals don’t need a visa to come to our country,” he said.