The Foreign Affairs Ministry seek to stamp out middlemen popularly known as ‘goro boys’ in the passport service in their newly announced same-day passport delivery service.

Due to reasons such as backlogs, manual vetting, among other cases, causing delays in passport delivery service, these 'goro boys' are usually spotted around passport offices offering to aid applicants in speeding applications at a fee, mostly exorbitant depending on the timelines applicants desire to receive their booklets.

However, after many years in operation, the Foreign Affairs Minister, doubling as Member of Parliament for North Tongu, has announced an express delivery service which will cater for emergency cases and members of the business community. The long-standing practice of applicants waiting about three months to receive their passports will soon be over.

“Meanwhile, we are also introducing a same-day passport delivery service for those with emergencies and members of the business community who may require super express service with a shorter turnaround time beyond the expedited service that we already render, and this is also contained in the new fees.

“So when this new Fees and Charges matures, you will see that a new service provision will come into force where you can obtain a passport in a day without going through a middleman or a “goro boy” as they are infamously called, he said.

He made this revelation while giving an update on the affairs of his Ministry on Monday, September 15,  under the Government Accountability Series held at the Presidency in Accra.

He also noted that, as part of measures to make passport services more accessible to all Ghanaians, seven new passport centres will be opened this year to expand coverage.

“Currently, we have 13 passport application centres in nine regions with a breakdown as follows: three in the Greater Accra Region, two in the Ashanti Region, two in the Northern Region, one in Upper West, one in Eastern, one in Central, one in Volta, one in Western, and one in the Bono Region.

“Efforts are in place to open seven additional passport application centres to cover the six new regions and Bolgatanga, the capital of the Upper East Region. These PACs will be opened this year”, he said.

He added that the PAC in Bolgatanga will be opened next month, “I am glad to note that the Bolgatanga passport application centre will be fully operational next month, October. I know our compatriots in the Upper East have been agitating for this, and I’m glad that next month your suffering will be over. We apologise to you for all the stress and the hustle, but the wait is over. Next month, I will personally be in Bolga to open this new PAC,” he continued.

Also, the Minister revealed that, following the introduction of the chip-embedded biometric passport regime, officially launched on April 28, 2025, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, over 161,824 chip-embedded passports have been printed and more than half delivered to respective applicants.

“As of 10th September 2025, a total of 161,824 chip-embedded passports have been printed, of which 122,895 have been delivered to applicants. Our reforms have also addressed the critical issue of delays in the processing of passport applications,” he added.

He said this had been made possible through the new passport operations, which provide 24-hour service.

“Additionally, we have rolled out 24-hour passport operations, ensuring a shorter turnaround time for passport issuance and delivery within 15 days to any part of the world,” he noted.

On passport application booklet fees, the Minister assured that he will keep his promise of fighting for a reduction in price of the booklets, which were increased in 2024 by the Akufo-Addo-led administration with the justification that the adjustment was part of the 2023 Fees and Charges Regulations, L.I. 2481, which aimed to align service costs with production expenses.

According to the Minister, his outfit has submitted proposals to Parliament and awaits Parliament’s response on the case.

He said “The ministry has also received the tenders for the passport head office and annexe building project and is currently evaluating them. I’m also pleased to inform this gathering that, in keeping our promise, we have submitted proposals to Parliament as contained in the new Fees and Charges Bill for reduction in passport fees from 500 Ghana cedis to 350 Ghana cedis for the 32-page booklet. It is expected to come into force once Parliament resumes session and passes the new Fees and Charges Bill.

"Before Parliament went on break, it was laid, and you know, for laws it has to meet a 21-day count, and we couldn’t get to 21 days before we took the break, but when we resume, certainly the count will be on, and after 21 days, this will come into force”.

The Fees and Charges Bill is a legislative framework that governs how public institutions in Ghana set, adjust, and collect fees for services they provide. It’s designed to ensure transparency, consistency, and economic relevance in how citizens are charged for accessing government services.

Meanwhile, in July, a total of 40,648 visas were issued by Ghana's missions in Washington, D.C., and New York from January 2025 to date and out of this, 28,626 were multiple-entry visas to Ghana.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made this information known while debunking reports that it is responsible for the United States government's revision of the reciprocity schedule for a considerable number of African countries, including Ghana, reducing the B1/B2 visa validity from 5 years multiple entry to 3 months single entry.

Ghanaian visa applicants can no longer access the 5-year visa and multiple-entry.

It was reported that the Foreign Ministry had also limited the number of entries and duration given to US passport holders, hence the reciprocity by the US government.

However, in a statement, the Ministry refuted this claim, noting that consistent with bilateral arrangements, US passport holders are entitled to a maximum visa validity of five years, and in most instances, five-year multiple-entry visas are issued upon request.

"Some applicants, however, apply for single-entry visas owing largely to limited validity of their passports," the statement read.

Besides the maximum five-year multiple visas, Ghana also issues multiple-entry 6-month, one-year, two-year, three-year, and four-year visas based on various considerations.

The statement further indicated that "The official statistics clearly demonstrate that contrary to false narratives, Ghana has issued, on average, an impressive 70.42% of multiple long-term visas to US passport holders, consistent with our bilateral arrangements."

The Foreign Ministry noted that the present limitations imposed by the United States vary substantially from the prior reciprocal arrangements that Ghana has kept with the United States.