Parliament has approved an upward review of passport application fees.
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration noted that passport fees for booklets with 32 pages will now cost GHS100 while fees for the newly introduced booklets with 48 pages will cost GHS150 effective February 1.
For expedited services, passport fees for booklets with 32 pages will now cost GHS150 while fees for booklets with 48 pages will cost GHS200.
The cost of processing passports in Ghana used to be GHS50 and GHS100 for regular and express services respectively.
In 2019 there were mixed signals from the state on whether the price of acquiring passports would be reviewed upwards or downwards.
In May 2019, the Government hinted of a possible review upwards but in September 2019, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, said the government was working towards a reduction of the cost of acquiring passports.
Increased validity
These increases come after the government extended the validity period of the country’s ordinary passport booklets from five years back to 10 years.
The extension followed complaints by some Ghanaians that the five-year validity period was too short.
An online petition collecting signatures to get the government to increase the validity period received more than 10,000 endorsements.
Ghanaian passport booklets used to be valid for 10 years until it was changed to five years in a bid to conform to recommended standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Other reviews
There has also been a review for fees required for the attestation of legal documents from GHS25 to GHS37.50.
Travel certificates will also now cost GHS37 up from GHS25.
