In a statement released by Francis Palmdeti, Head of Public Affairs of the Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana has kick-started a new visa policy which states that foreign nationals from the African Union member states can now travel to Ghana and be issued with visas on arrival.
The visa-on-arrival decision by the Ghanaian government was in fulfillment of a resolution adopted at the AU Executive Council meeting held earlier this year in Addis Ababa,
which stipulates that AU Member States should review their internal and external security realities in an attempt to implement mechanisms allowing for the issuing of visas on arrival for citizens of member states, with the possibility of a 30-day stay.
The President of Ghana, H.E. John Dramani Mahama, announced the decision in his State of the Nations address to the Ghanaian Parliament on 25 February 2016. “With effect from July this year, we will be allowing citizens of AU Member States to enter – our country and obtain visas on arrival with the option to stay for up to thirty days and experience what our country has to offer. This measure, with time, should stimulate air travel, trade, investment and tourism” he said.
Francis Palmdeti said the arrangement would be piloted at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra for three months, and thereafter extended to all other entry points of the country. “All AU nationals affected by this policy who arrive in the country must have a passport, valid for at least three months, from the date of entry; they must have a return ticket or evidence of onward travel. Travellers must show evidence of sufficient funds and proof of accommodation before they are granted visas’.’
