Public Anger Over Surge In Passport Prices

Effective immediately, the Foreign Affairs Ministry has revised the prices for passport applications, citing the need to address financial deficits incurred in passport booklet printing.

The standard service now requires applicants to pay ¢500 for a 32-page booklet and ¢644 for a 48-page booklet.

Expedited service demands higher fees, with rates set at ¢700 for a 32-page booklet and ¢800 for a 48-page booklet.

Upon learning about this, Ghanaians voiced their dissatisfaction with the hike.

Last December, Minister Shirley AyorkorBotchwey suggested to Parliament’s Committee on Subsidiary Legislation that they should look at the passport fees again. She wanted to do this to help the ministry stop losing money when printing 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.

A member of the Parliament’s Subsidiary Legislation Committee, speaking anonymously, confirmed the fee hike to Joy News. He clarified that since it was a Regulation, it automatically became law after 21 days without objections.

Passport application charges in other West African countries

The Committee on Foreign Affairs report on the 2024 budget estimates of the ministry states that Ghana’s passport fees are $7.7, the lowest in West Africa. A comparison shows that Cameroon charges $180, Guinea $57, Guinea-Bissau $65, Burkina Faso $80, and Nigeria $54.29 for passport services.