The United States government’s updated visa reciprocity policy for Ghana has restricted the time and number of entries allowed under the majority of non-immigrant visa classes.
A-class visa holders, mostly diplomats and government officials, will continue to be granted multiple-entry visas with a 24- to 60-month validity period, according to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs.
In a similar vein, the K1 visa, which is granted to a foreign-citizen fiancé(e) of a US citizen who plans to get married within 90 days of arriving in the country, and the K2 visa, which is given to the unmarried dependent child (under 21) of a K1 visa holder, are both six-month single-entry visas.
Both the K3 visa and the K4 visa are 24-month multiple-entry visas for a US citizen’s foreign-citizen spouse and their unmarried dependant child (under 21).
Single-entry visas with a three-month validity period will now be granted to all other applicants, including those seeking B-class visas, which cover travel for business and pleasure.
The revised rules, which were released under the U.S. Visa:
For Ghana, applicants for student visas are also impacted by reciprocity and civil documents by nation.
Holders of F-1 visas, who are often enrolled in full-time academic programs in the United States, will now only be granted one entry and their visas will expire after three months.
This is a departure from earlier policies that allowed many Ghanaian tourists to obtain multiple-entry visas that were good for one to five years.
The updated policy is a part of a larger international framework whereby the United States matches the reciprocity-based visa conditions that other nations provide to U.S. citizens. It comes after a comparable modification was made recently for Nigerian citizens.
Although the U.S. government has not yet made a formal public announcement explaining the change’s reasoning for Ghana, these kinds of changes are frequently connected to new national security assessments, enforcement of immigration laws, or bilateral diplomatic concerns.
According to the new regulation, Ghanaians who plan to travel to the US on several occasions for tourism, business, or school may now have to apply for a new visa each time, which could result in higher expenses and more paperwork.
