Trip Preparations - Visa for Ghana

Sunday, August 13, 2017
Stow, Ohio, United States
West Africa, here we come! Not being particularly experienced travelers to Africa, we have much to learn to successfully navigate this part of the world. Our first challenge has been to go through the process to obtain visas that will allow us to enter both Ghana and Nigeria. You would think that the process would be quite simple, but we have found it to be quite complex. Both of these counties require one to obtain a visa before you arrive in the country. No visa, no entry. 
We began the process a few months in advance to be sure we would not have any last-minute holdups. For Ghana, were instructed to go to the Ghanaian Embassy website and follow the instructions there. Here is what must be in the packet that we mail (FedEx) to the embassy in Washington D.C.. Two copies of a completed visa application including our name, U.S. address, phone, emergency contact (yikes!), airline ticket number, dates we will be in Ghana, the place we will be staying, where we will be traveling in Ghana, how much money we are bringing, our passport info, two recent passport photos, and what we had for breakfast last Tuesday. Okay, that last one was a stretch, but the detail they require was 'interesting.' 
After completing the application, you include a $100 money order per person. A 'single entry' visa is only $60, but because we are flying from Ghana to Nigeria and then back through Ghana to come home, we needed a 'multiple entry' visa. At least the multiple entry is good for three years if we ever have a need to go back! With the applications, photos, and money orders, you include your original passport and FedEx it overnight to the Ghanaian embassy in D.C. You must include a return FedEx envelope for them to return the passports with the visas. 
We shipped them off on a Wednesday morning, expecting the process to take a week or more. Much to our surprise, we received our passports back - with the Ghanaian visas - in three days! So $293.22 later, Pam and I are officially approved to enter Ghana! Now to send off for the Nigerian visas...
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