The use of the Ghana Card as an electronic travel document by Ghanaians arriving in the country is on the rise, data by the Ghana Immigration Service shows.

The biometric national identity card was officially certified by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) as meeting the requirements of an international travel document, and the Ghana Immigration Service, together with other stakeholders, officially announced last year that Ghanaians abroad travelling back into the country could use the Ghana card as a means of identification, in place of their Ghanaian Passports, if they so wished.

The directive also meant that Ghanaian holders of foreign passports, who, hitherto, required a visa to arrive back home in Ghana, would no longer require entry Ghanaian visas, once they are holders of the Ghana card.

The application of the new policy, which was officially implemented less than a year ago, is on the rise, as the Ghana Immigration Data reveals.

Data by the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) shows that about 1,089 Ghanaians boarded flights into Ghana from various countries around the world using Ghana cards.

The data shows that 1089 passengers boarded flights from 19 different countries and 21 different airlines to the country from January to December 2022.

Special desk at KIA to process Ghana Card holders

Following the announcement of the new policy, the Ghana Immigration Service set up a special booth at the Kotoko International Airport in Accra, which processes Ghanaian holders of the Ghana Card returning home.

Breakdown of Airline Arrivals

From the data, 426 Ghanaians used their Ghanacard to travel on Emirates Airlines from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to KIA in 2022, while 143 arrived from the Netherlands aboard KLM.

Fron 129 Ghanaians used their Ghanacards to travel from Cote D’Voire to Ghana comprising, while Air Cote D’Voire brought in 4 and Middle East Airlines brought in 1.

From the United States of America, 78 Ghanaians made up of 35 on Delta Airlines and 43 on United Airlines arrived in Ghana with Ghana Cards as their travel document.

From the UK, British Airways brought in 77 Ghanaians, while 67 Ghanaians arrived aboard Ethiopia Airlines in 2022.

From France, 66 Ghanacard holders arrived in Ghana aboard Air France, with many others arriving from other countries, such as Burkina Faso-17 (comprising Air Burkina-1, Air France-16), Belgium-13, (Brussels Airlines), Togo -13, (made up of 11 by ASKY, Brussels Airlines-2), Sierra Leone- 9 (ASKY Airlines-1, Kenya Airlines-8) and Nigeria-9 (Africa World Airlines-8, Rwand Air-1) respectively.

Others are: Qatar 8 (Qatar Airways), Liberia-7 (Africa World Airlines-2, ASKY Airlines-2, Kenya Airways-3), Turkey-6 (Turkish Airlines), South Africa-6 (South Africa Airlines), Egypt-6 (Egypt Air), Sao Tome and Principe-3 (Tap Air Portugal) and Morocco-1 (Royal Air Maroc),

The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia revealed in November 2021 during a lecture at Ashesi University that processes had been completed for the Ghana Card to be recognised as an international travel document by the ICAO, the global body that certifies means of international travel identification.

The government has announced that the next phase of the Ghanacard as an international travel document, is to make it possible for Ghanaians to use it to travel to countries Ghana would reach bilateral agreement with.

When such an agreement is reached, Ghanaian citizens can travel to these countries using their Ghanacard as means of of identification, especially for e-visas.