US Embassy lifts visa ban on Ghanaian diplomats & families

The United States has lifted the visa restrictions applied against Ghana in February, last year. The ban was slapped on Ghana for the refusal of the government to accept about 7,000 Ghanaians said to be illegally staying in the US. A statement issued by the US Embassy in Accra said from Friday, January 17 visa processing will return to the normal procedures. “The validity period and number of entries on new tourist and business visas (B1, B2, and B1/B2) for all Ghanaian executive and legislative branch employees, their spouses and their children under 21 will revert to receiving the normal validity, based on reciprocity, which is currently five years with multiple entries,” the statement on Thursday, January 16 said. The Embassy in Accra said the decision was reached following a mutually agreed process “for the identification, validating and issuance of travel documentation to Ghanaian citizens under final orders of removal in a manner consistent with international standards issued by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, of which Ghana is a Member State”. The Embassy assures that all pending non-immigrant visa applications for domestic employees of Ghanaian diplomats received during the ban will be processed. The ban was applied under Section 243(d) of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act. By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana Follow @kwame_amoh]]>