No one should pay more than GH¢300 for a passport – Foreign Ministry

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has announced that the highest an applicant must pay for a Ghanaian passport must be GH¢300, that is for a premium service.

The sector minister recently made an unannounced visit to the passport office in Accra where she principally announced the termination of contracts for all contract staff, adding that the move was to santitize the passport application process.

The minister lamented why citizens should be forced to part with in excess of 2,000 in some cases 3,000 cedis to obtain a passport.

The Ministry has now published how much it should cost for an applicant to obtain the travel document.

It’s press release dated August 17, 2023, which gave an email and hotlines to report unsatisfactory service at all Passport Application Centers (PACs) read in part:

The Ministry further wishes to remind the general public that passport applications are made on the passport application portal — passport.mfa.gov.gh and payment for the approved processing fees for the passport is made on the ghana.gov.gh platform based on the following:

i. 32-page booklet – GH¢100.00
ii. 48-page booklet – GH¢150.00

The payment is made ELECTRONICALLY and NOT BY CASH.

On the issue of expedited service, the statement continued: “The public is advised to note that applications submitted to the regular PACs does not come an an extra cost.

“However, applicants have the option of submitting their applications to the Premium PACs, which attract an additional GH¢150.000 payable in cash at the Premium Centers for the use of their service.”

From the above, anyone who applies for a 32-page booklet and does so through the Premium Centers will pay a total of 250 cedis whiles a 48-page booklet applicant will pay 300 cedis in total – 150 cedis for the application (electronic payment) and another 150 cedis in cash at the Premium Center.

READ FULL STATEMENT OF THE MINISTRY BELOW:

HOTLINES FOR REPORTING UNSATISFACTORY SERVICE

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has observed with grave concern complaints by some passport applicants about extortion and mistreatment meted out to them at some Passport Application Centres (PACs). In an effort to deal with the situation, the Ministry is urging applicants who suffer any mistreatment or extortion to report such incidents to the following email address and mobile numbers with the names of the officers and the PACs for redress:

Email: ipab@mfa.gov.gh

Mobile numbers
024-091-3284
024-079-3072
020-455-2056
020-455-2750
026-804-9031
026-979-4871

The Ministry further wishes to remind the general public that passport applications are made on the passport application portal — passport.mfa.gov.gh and payment for the approved processing fees for the passport is made on the ghana.gov.gh platform based on the following:

i. 32-page booklet – GH¢100.00
ii. 48-page booklet – GH¢150.00

The payment is made ELECTRONICALLY and NOT BY CASH.

As part of measures to be implemented, all officers will be made to wear name tags. The public is thereby advised not to engage any person who is unable to identify themselves with the issued name tags, as they most likely are imddlemen, usually referred to as “goro boys”. The Ministry further urges passport applicants to always use the official channel to acquire their passports and desist from engaging unauthorised persons in the passport application process.

Furthermore, officers who have already served more than a year at the PACs will be replaced with immediate effect and the Ministry’s policy of the yearly rotation at the PACs will be enforced to the letter.

The public is advised to note that applications submitted to the regular PACs does not come an an extra cost. However, applicants have the option of submitting their applications to the Premium PACs, which attract an additional GH¢150.000 payable in cash at the Premium Centers for the use of their service.

The Ministry counts on the cooperation of the public in addressing this menace.