The Ghana Passport Premium Application Center- My Struggle & Experience.
Navigating the bureaucracy of passport application processes can be a challenging journey, and my recent experience at the Ghana Premium Passport Application Center served as a stark reminder of the gruesome hurdles many Ghanaians face in acquiring this essential travel document.
This was my application and collection experience back in 2023.
From the outset, the online process (https://passport.mfa.gov.gh ) which I used seemed straightforward – input the relevant data, submit the application and get a date for face-to-face processing at the Premium Application Center, then pay (GHC150) using Mobile Money or Visa. I got all the necessary documents required packed and ready. This passport was for my daughter . Her birth certificate, signed forms were ready. I wasn’t much in a hurry so the three month’s wait for the processing wasn’t really a bother. November came and I made my way for my 10am appointed time. I was deeply shocked at the crowd seated beneath the a roofed waiting area waiting to be either called to pick up their passport or start the process for application like I was. So it’s really true! Ghanaians are leaving the country by the droves!! You have to see it to believe it!
Interestingly, the 10am time is a ruse as I had to sit for about 30-35minutes to be called into a group of about 30 people also having this 10am appointment. So basically, 10am interviews wait for close to an hour to be called to enter the center. A verification is conducted at the entrance by security personnel and I was given a ticket/seat number. My optimism gave way to disillusionment. The seated queue was a sight to behold! The air was stifling with frustration and impatience intermingled with the cool of the air-conditioning. My daughter was with me the whole time, don’t forget and if you are a parent you know how impatient Gen Alpha kids can get. Their boredom sets in quick! But i was prepared for the long wait at the center with her tablet and my phones fully charged for YouTube kids screen time. Why doesn’t the center create an area for vulnerable groups such as mothers with young children, the aged and pregnant women? We are all bundled into one space with poorly implemented entrance and exit systems. The chairs were metallic and uncomfortable and it was almost a squeeze with other persons by me. If you make a mistake and get up, another person would be in your seat in micro-seconds!
Image Source: Graphic Online
It finally got to my turn only to be asked for the green birth certificate and not the one I had. I held in my anger and told the lady that the form wasn’t specific on the type of birth certificate. She insisted it did. This was false. So apparently, once a baby is 1year old a biometric birth certificate is given to replace the one given at birth. Why isn’t there a system to alert new parents of this after a year? I could have sworn I had a copy of that certificate but I had forgotten in the chaos and brain fog of motherhood. So the pink birth certificate was null and I had to go back home for the other one. After almost an hour wait!
The next day i went back, showed my previous ticket number and went in. I got called again after another 30 minutes wait. I was asked if I wanted the VIP processing of the passport for an extra fee of GHC400. I couldn’t see myself being in this queue again with a small child so I agreed. It would be delivered to the address I provided, I was told. That cost GHC60. I paid for that as well. We were ushered into a separate room within the center and it was as though we had walked into sanity. It was serene with only about four people sitting on cushioned sofa’s unlike the metallic chairs in the main area. A staff member served us bottles of water and a box juice (imported box juice.) for my daughter. I sat for about 15minutes before I got up to make enquiries at a window on when the process was going to begin. I was told it had started so I should go get my documents. Here I was thinking my daughter’s name would be called via a PA system but I was asking for too much. We went through the biometric process and thankfully finished in fifteen minutes. I am positive it would have been in a less time frame but have you tried telling a child to hold their head still for a passport picture before? Quite an adventure I tell you 😆.
I was given a receipt showing time and date to pickup the passport and then we left. The date for the delivery of the passport was December second week or so. I hadn’t received any calls or alerts as to its readiness. I was getting anxious as this was my busiest season and any unplanned activities would put a ramp in my schedule. 15th December passed and no one delivered the passport. I had heard stories of people’s passports being intentionally delayed to force Ghanaians to bribe someone to get their printed passport. Is this what was happening to me? I decided to call one of the phone numbers shared by the Foreign Affairs Minister for reporting of corrupt practices at any of the passport centers. I called one number which wasn’t picked and then a second number which rang several times before someone finally answered. The service was horrid and I was made to feel bad for even calling in the first place. I simply didn’t get anyone to provide me with a way to check on my child’s passport at the PAC office but I was informed it was ready and printed. There was no mobile phone number to check on the status of my daughter’s passport on any platform. The landline numbers listed on the website are constantly busy. Not even a short code number. The website however has a feature for checking on the status of the passport but it only informed me that my application didn’t exist. Ei!
So i drive there again, determined that I wasn’t leaving until I had her passport in hand. I’ll sleep there if I must. At the collection point I shared my grievances with the assistant at the window only for him to check and confirm that it was printed. Why haven’t I been called since the pickup date last week? He responded that they just got the new passports today. This is two days after the date given for pickup or delivery. A supervisor was called and I explained my issue and she didn’t tell me anything new. They had just received new booklets today. So i asked her how she’d feel if she ordered food from a restaurant to be delivered and she never heard back from the restaurant until several days. How would she feel? Not a single information to inform the applicant on the delay. She confidently told me I wouldn’t be refunded for the delivery service. Just as i predicted. I picked up the passport and once again was reminded about how every government frustrates the average Ghanaian on the basic rights owed to us as citizens. From university admission (long queues, failed computer systems, inadequate rooms), acquiring a driving license, Ghana Card, birth and death certificate everything is a painful acquisition which increases corruption in these systems.
It’s evident that the Passport Premium Application Center process lacks the efficiency one would expect from a premium service. Basically, even though you get a collection date to pick up your passport, just wait a few days before you get an sms text informing you to go pick up. That text can come through three days after that date.
The service really made me frustrated and compounded my frustration and left applicants like myself grappling with uncertainty and unnecessary delays.
I am however grateful that goro boys have however been eliminated from the system (hopefully). My experience underscores the urgent need for a reevaluation of the passport application system in Ghana, with an emphasis on transparency, streamlined processes, and improved communication to ensure that citizens can obtain this vital document without undue hardship.
