Ghana is set to transition to an e-passport, which features a chip embedded in the passport, in line with international standards.

According to Alhaji Mohammed Habib Idris, the Director of Passport, this move will align Ghana with approximately 150 other countries that already utilize e-passports.

Alhaji Idris, who will soon assume the position of Ambassador-designate of Ghana to the State of Kuwait, confirmed that the migration to e-passports is expected to be completed and launched by the last quarter of this year. He also mentioned that work on the new system will commence prior to his assuming the new role.

The introduction of e-passports will enhance the security and efficiency of passport issuance and travel documentation processes in Ghana, bringing the country in line with global trends and technological advancements in passport technology.

Alhaji Idris further explained that the “nation’s decision to switch from the current biometric system to the chip-embedded passport is also to comply with standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) member countries”.

Alhaji Mohammed Habib Idris (right), Director of Passport, sharing a point with Daily Graphic’s Zakaria Alhassan

“It is also to enhance the security and integrity of the nation’s passport,” he added.

The e-passport project, which is under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, is being implemented through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

On the timely issuance of passports, the Director said there had been some improvement over the years and as a result, people no longer trooped to Accra to access their passports following the establishment of centres across the country.

The centres were set up upon assumption of office of the current government in 2017, and at the moment there are 13 passport centres in the country where applicants can access their passports.

“All what you have to do is to apply through an online portal we have introduced to allow us facilitate the process for you to have your passport.

“We have come a long way in the processing and delivering of passports; evolving from the issuance of high return passports to machine readable passport and now doing biometric passport.

All these are aimed at improving the integrity and security of our passport,” Alhaji Idris added.

He further explained that the online application portal was established to address delays in the system.

He, however, acknowledged that his outfit still experienced challenges sometimes following temporary breakdowns of the system due to the fact that over 100 passports were processed a day.

Except in emergency and peculiar cases, Alhaji Idris said the standard time for processing a passport is between 15 and 21 days, but “due to technical problems we are sometimes not able to meet this deadline.”