The United States of America has agreed to terms with the Ghanaian government to lift the visa restrictions placed on Ghana a year ago. With this development, visa processing for Ghanaian officials and their families will revert to a more straightforward process, says a Department of State official in Washington DC.

It could be recalled that the United States placed visa restrictions on Ghanaian citizens back in February 2019 following disagreements with the Ghanaian authorities with the US Department of Homeland Security and Department of State because of the later’s failure to co-operate in the process of accepting its citizens who were ordered removed from the US.

Read also:UAE Changes Visa Policy to Attract More Visitors

For its part, Ghana countered by claiming that the US was not following due process to show that the intended deportees were indeed Ghanaians. The increased rate of deportation followed tightening of US policies with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials stepping up immigrant arrests under the Trump administration.

Read also:Kenyans to pay more for EU’s Schengen visa from next year

In a statement confirming the lifting of visa restrictions, the US Department of State says it has now agreed a process with Ghana for identifying, validating and issuing travel documentation to Ghanaian citizens to be deported. As such, existing restrictions on the length of visa validity and number of entries permitted on tourist and business visas have now been lifted.

Read also:South Africa Grants Tunisia Visa Free Status, Commences e-Visa Operations, And Many More

The visa restrictions issued on Ghana’s officials and diplomats followed similar penalties on Sierra Leone, Guinea and Eritrea, all of which were given visa restrictions in 2017, also for failing to comply with removal orders for their nationals. The moves are also part of an ongoing anti-immigration stance by the Trump administration which is already having serious effects: last year, Nigeria recorded the highest drop in visitors to the US following a string of visa clampdown measures.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry