The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made an upward adjustment to the fees for passport applications effective today, Monday, April 1, 2024.
The standard service has been raised from the GH¢100 to ¢500 for the 32-page booklet and to ¢644 for the 48-page booklet whilst those seeking expedited service would be required to pay ¢700 for a 32-page booklet and ¢800 for a 48-page booklet.
The sector Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, in December 2023 proposed to Parliament’s Subsidiary Legislation Committee that the fees needed to be increased to cater for the printing of the passport booklets to cater for the real costs incurred for the printouts.
“It is time for Ghanaians to pay realistic prices for passports they acquire to travel beginning next year,” Madam Ayorkor Botchwey said.
She explained how the prevailing financial constraints is making it unreasonable for the government to continue to subsidise passport booklets for applicants.
“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.
According to the Committee on Foreign Affairs report on the 2024 budget estimates of the ministry, Ghana’s passport fees stood 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.
