Ghana business visa

The business visa is for short commercial visits: meetings with partners or clients, negotiations, conferences, trade fairs and inspections. It is not a work authorisation. Anyone who will be employed in Ghana, paid locally or placed with a Ghanaian company needs a work and residence permit, and the eVisa document itself warns that work without the required permit attracts sanctions.

There are two official routes. Ghana's diplomatic missions abroad issue business visas as single-entry or multiple-entry visas. The Ghana eVisa portal issues a single-entry B1 business eVisa to nationalities for which its eligibility checker returns eVisa Required. Travellers from African Union or ECOWAS states normally use the free ETA or enter visa-free instead.

Missions apply their general checklist: passport valid six months with two blank pages, the application form, photographs, yellow fever certificate, return ticket or flight confirmation and travel insurance. If you travel for your employer, add a letter in English from the employer confirming your position, the company's certificate of incorporation and tax clearance certificate, and proof of employment such as your contract, pay slips and personal bank statements.

If a Ghanaian company invites you, add its letter of invitation, two references with the names and addresses of business associates and their companies in Ghana (a hotel may only be the second reference), and the Ghanaian company's certificate of incorporation, certificate to commence business and tax clearance certificate.

For the B1 eVisa the portal asks for a signed invitation letter from the host company setting out the purpose of the trip, the signatory's Ghana Card or passport biodata page (plus a Ghana residence permit if the signatory is a foreign resident), certified company registration documents, the company's tax clearance certificate, a confirmed return or onward ticket and accommodation details covering the whole stay.

Mission fees, payment methods and processing times are set by each mission; check the page of the mission responsible for you. Mission visas can be single or multiple entry.

The eVisa costs a flat USD 260 for standard processing within 96 hours, USD 338 for priority within 48 hours or USD 442 for express within five hours, regardless of nationality. It is single entry, valid 90 days from issue, and the officer grants up to 60 days on arrival.

Carry your passport, visa, yellow fever certificate and copies of the invitation and company documents. If meetings run longer than the stay granted, the host can apply to GIS for an extension of the visitor's permit (GHS 65 per month for nationals outside ECOWAS). If your company later decides to employ you in Ghana, it must obtain a work and residence permit; GIS processes permit applications from foreign nationals who have been lawfully admitted to Ghana.