The number of visa applications processed in 2023 from Ghana has nearly doubled from 2022, Har­iprasad Viswanathan, Head – Sub Saharan Africa, VFS Global, has said.

He said applications pro­cessed at the Ghana Passport Premium Application Centres run by VFS Global have seen a 30 percent rise during the year, underlining the desire to travel overseas by the residents of Ghana.

2023 was the year of a sig­nificant rise in global outbound travel across the world, including in countries such as Ghana.

Explaining why the demand for visas increased and what applicants need to keep in mind ahead of the current peak travel season, Mr Viswanathan, speaking during a media outreach session in Accra, said “Based on the initial trends, we expect the increase in international travel in 2022 and 2023 to continue this year as well”.

“Outbound travel has re­bounded last year to pre-pandemic levels with tourism, family visits, and educational as well as business trips being the common reasons for outbound travel from Ghana. Seeing the surge in demand for outbound travel and with limited appointment slots available, we encourage our applicants to apply for their visas as early as possible like their flight and hotel book­ings.”

As a market leader in the outsourced visa and consular services space for governments, he affirmed the company’s commit­ment to continuously engage in developing innovative solutions to enhance the overall visa applica­tion experience.

“Applicants are regularly provided information about visa processing timelines, data protec­tion and privacy assurance, how to detect fraud and the organisation’s value-added services are regular­ly communicated via key touch points,” he said.