In the latest news update, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has explained that the Ghana Card cannot be used as the only document for the purposes of international traveling.
Thus, the passport and travel certificate still serve as the official documents for traveling outside the country.
Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, the Sector Minister, gave this explanation when responding to questions asked in Parliament on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.
According to the Foreign Minister, the Ghana Card is not a replacement for the current biometric passport. Hence, it will serve as an optional travel document to be used in together with our biometric passport. Therefore, citizens must know that the passport together with the traffic certificates is the only approved travel document that is globally recognized.
After a successful passage of the Ghana Card, the Vice President of Ghana, Dr. Bawumia indicated that the said has completely met the requirements for an E-passport. This brought a lot of discussions. He mentioned this after the International Civil Aviation Organization rejected Ghana Card as E-passport.
According to the Government of Ghana, the Ghana Card has been accepted and certified by the ICAO. Hence, qualifies to be used as a medium of identity card for oversea travel replacing a passport.
Dr, Bawumia, the Vice President of Ghana in the early days stated that Ghana Card would be recognized as an E-passport in 197 by 2022.
However, the Foreign Minister on the floor of Parliament stated that the acceptance of the Ghana Card as a source document for oversea travel has not come to conclusion.
Shirley Ayorkor Botchway also added that “At the moment, the Ghana Card cannot be used for traveling to other countries, either within or outside of ECOWAS. That will require bilateral agreements with countries for their authorities to accept the card as a travel document. The Ministry is in active discussions with ECOWAS member states and our bilateral partners to achieve this”.
However, the Ghana Card will be accepted for nationals and dual nationals coming back to the country by the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).
