The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has hinted on a potential move to increase passport application fees, citing a shortage in essential raw materials and equipment required to meet the surging demand at the passport office.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, stressed the necessity for this fee revision, due to high production costs and the current affordability of the current fees as compared to those of neighboring countries within the West African sub-region.
Ampratwum-Sarpong revealed that ongoing discussions with Parliament are in progress to finalize the approval of revised fees. He expressed concern that Ghanaians presently pay $8, a considerably lower figure compared to neighboring nations where the equivalent service costs around $40.
He added that there are plans to introduce chip-embedded passports in the second quarter of 2024 to enhance security in line with ICAO standards.
“Liberia charges $50, we charge $8, meaning we have to subsidize every passport. So the money to buy the printers is used to subsidize the passports… And also, we are thinking of upgrading our passport from biometric to chip-embedded. So the chip-embedded version is going to cost more. If we continue charging at $8, we will continue to face the problems that we are having at the passport office… So we have to raise the fees,” he said.
