US Lifts Visa Ban on Ghana

The United States has lifted its visa restrictions on Ghana, restoring access to five-year multiple entry visas and expanded consular privileges for Ghanaian travelers. The announcement was made by Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who credited the move to “months of high-level diplomatic negotiations.” He said the news was delivered by US officials on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

The decision ends months of restrictions that limited Ghanaians to single-entry, three-month visas, a measure also applied to citizens of Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Cameroon. While the change is being welcomed, it comes at a time when Ghana has assumed a controversial role in Washington’s deportation policy under President Donald Trump.

President John Mahama recently confirmed that Ghana has begun receiving West Africans deported from the United States, including individuals with no family or national ties to the country. At least 14 people have already been sent to Ghana since early September, with reports indicating that some had previously won protection from US immigration courts. Rights groups have described the arrangement as deeply troubling.

According to AFP, Ghana has quietly transferred at least four deportees onward to their home countries. Other cases have raised alarm, including reports that between eight and ten deportees were held under military guard in Ghana before being abandoned in neighboring Togo. Another plane carrying deportees is said to have landed in Accra this week, though the number on board remains unclear.

Officials in Accra have defended the cooperation as humanitarian, emphasizing that it does not signify support for Trump’s immigration agenda. Critics, however, argue that Ghana has been turned into a third-country deportation hub without securing clear benefits in return.