Ministry of Foreign Affairs increases passport application fees

Passport application fees hiked; Expedited service now at ¢800, standard service at ¢644

Starting today, the Foreign Affairs Ministry has adjusted the fees for passport applications, raising them from GH¢100 to ¢500 for the 32-page booklet and to ¢644 for the 48-page booklet under the standard service.

For those who want expedited service, they will pay ¢700 for a 32-page booklet and ¢800 for a 48-page booklet.

In December last year, the sector Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey proposed to Parliament’s Committee on Subsidiary Legislation the need to review the fees to enable the ministry to curb losses in the printing of passport booklets.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs said, “It is time for Ghanaians to pay realistic prices for passports they acquire to travel beginning next year. 

According to her, due to the financial constraints prevailing in the economy, it had come to a point where it was no longer “sustainable” for the state to continue to subsidise passports.

“Ghanaians pay just about GH¢100 for a passport yet to produce one passport booklet it costs GH¢400 which means that for every passport that an applicant acquires, the government has to put in GH¢300 and this is not sustainable,” she said.

No objection in Parliament

A source within the leadership of the Parliament’s Subsidiary Legislation Committee who confirmed the increase to Joy News said his committee worked on the Regulation when it was laid.

He explained that being a Regulation and not a Bill, it became law after 21 days when no objections were raised.

Passport application charges in other West African countries

According to the Committee on Foreign Affairs report on the 2024 budget estimates of the ministry, Ghana’s passport fees stand at $7.7, marking the lowest rate in the West African sub-region.

A comparison reveals that Cameroon charges $180, Guinea $57, Guinea-Bissau $65, Burkina Faso $80, and Nigeria $54.29 for passport services.

source: My Joy Online