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The United States has lifted its visa restrictions on Ghana, restoring full visa privileges and allowing Ghanaian travellers to obtain five-year, multiple-entry visitor visas once again.
The U.S. Embassy in Accra announced on Saturday that all non-immigrant visa categories for Ghanaians have returned to their previous validity periods. The B1/B2 visitor visa is now valid for five years with multiple entry, while F1 student visas once again carry a four-year, multiple-entry validity. This comes months after Washington limited Ghanaians to three-month single-entry visas.
Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Ablakwa, welcomed the development, crediting sustained high-level diplomacy for the reversal. He revealed that the decision was confirmed to him by U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker during a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Although officials did not provide explicit reasons for the policy change, analysts link the move to Ghana’s recent agreement to accept African migrants deported from the United States. Earlier in September, Reuters reported that Ghana had already received 14 West African deportees, following U.S. pressure on several African nations to accept deported migrants. Other countries, including Rwanda, Eswatini and South Sudan, have reportedly taken similar steps.
Nigeria, which faced the same visa restrictions in July, has yet to receive similar relief. Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar has publicly rejected American requests to accept Venezuelan detainees, insisting that the country cannot serve as a “dumping ground” for deportees.
