President John Mahama has unveiled major reforms to Ghana’s visa and passport services, including a five-day visa processing policy and the complete clearance of a 40,000-application passport backlog, with delivery now guaranteed within 15 working days.

Delivering the 2026 State of the Nation Address on Friday, February 27, President Mahama said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has implemented the five-day visa service across all Ghanaian missions abroad, aimed at facilitating travel, boosting tourism, and easing business mobility.

“What this means is that anyone who applies for a visa will receive it within five days,” he stated.

He further disclosed that a national e-visa platform is in development, with rollout planned for 2026. The system will allow applicants to apply online and receive approval electronically, removing the need to visit Ghanaian embassies.

President Mahama also announced that Ghana has secured visa waiver agreements with 11 countries, enabling Ghanaians to travel without the traditional visa process, promoting people-to-people exchange.

On passport services, he said access has been expanded nationwide with seven new passport application centres in the Upper East, Oti, Ahafo, Bono East, North East, Savannah, and Western North regions.

“With this expansion, all 16 regional capitals now host passport application centres, marking a major milestone in decentralising passport services,” he noted.

To address systemic delays, the Foreign Affairs Ministry introduced a 24-hour passport production operation at its head office, which cleared the inherited backlog of over 40,000 applications.

“As a result of these reforms, Ghana’s passport administration now operates with zero backlog, guaranteeing passport delivery within 15 working days,” President Mahama concluded.