US lifts Ghana's visa restrictions after it accepted West African deportees

The Ghanaian government has announced that the United States has lifted the visa restrictions it had earlier imposed on Ghana.

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

In a post on X on Friday, 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 that the reversal of the restriction comes with other enhanced consular privileges, adding that the development was the result of months of diplomatic engagement.

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“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.

“I am really pleased that months of high-level Diplomatic negotiations have led to a successful outcome,” he said.

The US has, however, yet to confirm or disclose the development.

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.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the US Mission in Nigeria said the policy was introduced in response to Nigeria’s visa policy toward American citizens.

But the Nigerian government denied initiating any new policy to trigger a reciprocal response from the US.

Ghana receives deportees

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.

Speaking on the reversal of visa restrictions, the Ghanaian foreign minister said it was “good to see healthier and stronger Ghana-USA relations.”

“Big win for Ghana!” he added.

For months, the White House has been actively courting several African nations and nudging them to accept deported migrants.

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African countries are accepting the deportees in exchange for currying favours and other benefits.

For those rejecting deportees, the government is employing threats of travel bans and higher tariffs as tools to persuade them.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the Nigerian government accused the US of imposing import tariffs to pressure it to accept Venezuelan deportees.

“We cannot accept Venezuelan deportees to Nigeria for crying out loud. We already have 230 million people. You will be the same people who would castigate us if we acquiesce to accepting Venezuelans from US prisons to be brought in,” it said.

Meanwhile, the Rwanda government has struck a deal to accept 250 deportees.

Uganda also forged an agreement with the US administration to accept deported migrants.