Ghana relaxes visa rules for ‘Year of Return’ visitors as it targets 1.1m arrivals in 2019

As the year wraps up and families plan to meet and bond, Ghana’s ‘Year of Return’ Secretariat (YoR) has indicated that its data for the first nine months of 2019 showed 80,862 more arrivals from the United States of America (USA), Britain (UK) and other key target nations than the figure recorded the previous year.

The figures show that in-bound airport arrivals from the USA increased by 26 per cent (17,455) and the UK by 24 per cent (9,812). An official noted, “Total airport arrivals have increased by 45 per cent (237,088), compared to last year.”

“Although not all the 80,862 passengers could be classified as tourists, the YoR impact has undoubtedly surged interest in Ghana among Diasporan Africans in the UK and the USA since the programme got underway,” the YoR Secretariat said.

And to further make it easier for persons of color wanting to visit Ghana, the secretariat is offering visa on arrival for individuals travelling to Ghana to attend ‘Year of Return’ events.

To apply for a visa on arrival please complete the following:

“Email a copy of your confirmed flight itinerary (Name must appear) and passport bio data page to support@yearofreturn.com at least 14-days prior to your departure date. The information will be sent to immigration for processing.

“For security reasons after processing is complete, Immigration will send the visa on arrival confirmation form to the secretariat 24 to 48 hours prior to the departure date.

“Once the visa on arrival confirmation form is received, the secretariat will send the form to the passenger and it will be used to board the flight

“Follow the signs to “visa on arrival” line when you arrive to the airport in Ghana and show your visa confirmation form and pay $75 to receive your entry stamp.”

2019 marks the 400th Anniversary of the first ship from Africa hitting the shores of the Americas (Virginia).

Ghana is the only country in the 21st century that has legally offered to resettle people of African descent in Africa. In the year 2000, Ghana became the first African country to officially open its doors to people of African descent from all over the world.

The West African country passed the “Right of Abode” law which allows any person of African descent to apply and be granted the right to stay in Ghana indefinitely.

This was followed by the launch of the Diaspora Affairs Bureau under the foreign affairs ministry in 2014 to manage the migration and engage the diaspora to provide a sustainable link with various government agencies to achieve development and investment goals.

The YoR Secretariat has projected the busiest envisaged month to be December this year, during which it is confident of reaching the targeted 1.1 million arrivals for the year.