Deputy Ministerial nominee for Foreign Affairs, James Gyakye Quayson, has said that he would work with his Minister to address the matter of nonrefundable visa fees if approved by Parliament.
Gyakye Quayson stated that most of the advanced countries are milking people in developing countries, including Ghana, through visa fees.
He noted that about 95 of the people whose visas do not go through successfully do not get a refund of their fees.
Answering questions during his vetting on Friday, July 25, Gyakye Quayson indicated that he would work with his Minister to address this matter if approved by Parliament.
A member of the appointees committee had told him that in other countries, including Nigeria, anytime they apply for visas in foreign embassies and they are not accepted, the fees are refunded.
Read also: Visa Fees: ‘So-called advanced countries are milking our people’ – Gyakye Quayson
Asked how Ghana is going to adopt this as well, Gyakye Quayson answered, “This is an administrative policy that we have to look into because I personally believe that most of these so-called advanced countries are milking our people. On average, most African youth, because of a lack of opportunities, will want to travel outside.
“A visa is not cheap, even just the application form alone is about 160 Dollars, which could be a month or two months’ pay for some of our youth or labour. These embassies are collecting this money, and almost 99 per cent of them. We have to find a way to streamline this to save our youth their money. Most of these countries are using that as revenue to support their embassies.
“If we don’t know this and we think that the rich countries are able to afford to set up embassies, that is not the case, most of their revenues are coming from us to support their embassies, and we have got to find a way to put an end to that..
“I will work with my minister to make sure any policy that we put together will be something that can be of interest.
“Foreign policy is not about protecting foreign nations only; first and foremost, it should be about protecting us, and it should be reciprocated. Our domestic policies are what we extend to foreign policy.”
