The United States (US) Embassy in Ghana is to implement significant changes to its visa appointment system as part of efforts to enhance overall efficiency in visa processing.
The transition to a new visa service provider, scheduled for August 26, 2024, is in line with a broader update to visa services being rolled out at US embassies in many countries worldwide.
The Consul General of the Embassy, Elliot Fertik, told journalists at a briefing on Friday that despite the change in the system, all existing non-immigrant visa interview appointments would remain valid.
He said while this change was not directly related to current visa demand, the transition could help alleviate the ongoing challenge of managing a significant increase in applications.
Explaining the transition, Mr Fertik said from August 16, 2024, the current appointment system website would no longer be accessible for changes, new appointments, or visa fee payments.
He said customer service would also be unavailable between August 16 and 26, and that no new appointments could be made, and existing appointments cannot be cancelled or rescheduled.
However, Mr Fertik said, all scheduled interviews would proceed as planned.
"If you have an appointment already scheduled during that time, it is still valid. We will still interview you, and you should still come to the embassy for your appointment", he said.
Mr Fertik said on August 26, 2024, the embassy would launch the new scheduling system and information about the new website would be posted on the embassy's official website and social media channels.
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He said that all applicants, including those with existing appointments after August 26, would be required to create new accounts on this system.
Mr Fertik assured that the cost of visa applications would remain the same with the new system and that while most changes are on the technical side, some new service enhancements would be announced later.
He addressed concerns about the current backlog in visa processing, noting that the backlog was primarily driven by unprecedented demand rather than procedural issues.
"If you look at the number of people who paid the visa application fee in 2019 before the pandemic and compare it to the number of people who did so in 2023, the number in 2023 is triple what it was in 2019," Mr Fertik explained.
To address the increased demand, he said the embassy had added resources and increased the number of interviewing officers, and that this summer, 65 per cent more student visa applications were processed compared to the same time last year.
For those seeking quicker appointments, Mr Fertik highlighted two options: the interview waiver programme for eligible visa renewals, and the expedited appointment process for emergency cases.
However, he cautioned that the criteria for expedited appointments are currently very stringent due to high demand.
