Ghana tourist (visitor's) visa

GIS exempts ECOWAS nationals and nationals of a short list of other countries, such as Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Mauritius, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, from the visa requirement; African Union nationals use the free ETA. Other travellers obtain a visa from one of Ghana's 56 diplomatic missions abroad, which issue visas for single or multiple journeys valid from six months to five years, or apply online for a B2 eVisa. The visitor's visa covers holidays, sightseeing and visits to friends or relatives; it does not allow employment, even where a Ghanaian employer has a vacancy in its immigrant quota.

A visa does not decide how long you stay. At each entry the Ghana Immigration Service officer sets the permitted stay, normally sixty days. A six-month multiple-entry visa therefore lets you enter several times within six months of issue but does not give a six-month continuous stay. Holders of an online eVisa follow a separate procedure described on the e-Visa page.

Each mission publishes its own checklist. A typical mission list asks for a passport valid for at least six months from the date of application with at least two blank pages; the visa application form completed in English, in capital letters and in several copies; recent passport photographs; an international yellow fever vaccination certificate; a return ticket or flight confirmation; and travel insurance. Incomplete forms or wrong information can make the application void.

For a visitor's visa missions also ask for references in Ghana, one of which may be your hotel; an invitation letter from a person or institution in Ghana together with proof of that person's identity; and, if you are employed, an employer letter, contract, pay slips and a personal bank statement. The yellow fever vaccine must have been given at least ten days before travel.

GIS does not publish one fee table for visas issued abroad: each mission sets its fees, currency and payment method, so check the page of the mission responsible for you. Check its refund rules as well. The online B2 eVisa costs a flat USD 260 for standard processing within 96 hours, USD 338 for priority within 48 hours and USD 442 for express within five hours, whatever your nationality, and is single entry only.

Processing times at missions vary; some offer express processing for a higher fee. Submit well before your planned departure and, if you apply by post, follow the mission's instructions for returning the passport.

If you need more time than the officer granted at the border, apply to GIS before the permit expires. GIS may extend a visitor's permit initially for up to three months and to a maximum of six months. The application consists of the extension form, an application letter, two recent passport photographs, a copy of the return ticket, a support letter from a local institution where relevant, a copy of any earlier extension, a copy of the non-citizen identification card for stays beyond three months, and the passport itself; the host should apply on behalf of the guest.

Under the L.I. 2512 schedule the extension costs GHS 65 per month for nationals outside ECOWAS. Staying on an expired visitor's permit attracts a penalty of GHS 300 per month. The GIS client service charter gives one week as the standard time for an extension.