The United States has lifted visa restrictions earlier imposed on Ghana, restoring multiple-entry privileges and longer validity periods for non-immigrant visas.
Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Ablakwa, announced the development in a post on X, disclosing that citizens are now eligible to apply for five-year multiple-entry visas along with other enhanced consular benefits.
“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,” Ablakwa said, adding that the decision followed months of diplomatic engagement. He revealed that the policy shift was conveyed to him by US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooke during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
The US Embassy in Ghana also confirmed the change, stating: “The maximum validity periods for all categories of nonimmigrant visas for Ghanaians have been restored to their previous lengths. The B1/B2 visitor visa is again valid for five years, multiple entry, while the F1 student visa is now valid for four years, multiple entry.”
In July, Washington had shortened visa durations for citizens of Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Ethiopia to single-entry visas valid for three months, citing its visa reciprocity policy and concerns over overstays. The move reversed Ghana’s long-standing access to multiple-entry visas of up to five years.
The reversal comes weeks after Ghana accepted 14 US deportees from Nigeria and other West African countries. President John Mahama defended the decision, noting that the ECOWAS free movement protocol already permits West Africans to enter Ghana without visas.
