Visa Fraud at Ghana Embassy in US

(Ghanaian Journal ) -- Flawless information gathered from the United States offer a disturbing trend in the issuance of Ghanaian passports and visas to Ghanaians in that country.

The paper’s findings which were corroborated by some victims of the scam indicate that some Embassy staff at the Ghana mission with the connivance of other middlemen, who are mostly Ghanaians sell the processed passports and send them to Ghanaians who wish to travel to the US and other developed countries.

Some of them recounted to the paper on telephone how the practice started sometime last year and although they had been several representations to the leadership of the Ghana Embassy on the subject there seem to be no end to the practice with many Ghanaians under similar circumstances returning from the Embassy to offer other twists to the passport-visa-fraud.

The concerns raised here by a particular Ghanaian sums up the frustrations and ordeals of the affected Ghanaians.

“My passport expired in January this year and I applied for a new one at the embassy. Every time I go there they have an excuse to tell me. I made several follow-ups but all to no avail. I became very irritated and decided to withdraw my application only to be told that the package that contained my passport was nowhere to be found.

…In fact I challenged and argued with them for several days but the action I took was not enough to get what I wanted. A friend came to visit me one day and through our discussions I told him about my ordeal at the hands of the Ghana embassy in US.

“I am more frustrated and in fact I am almost getting to the edge. I have to travel to Brazil in a month to present a paper. My passport has expired so I sent my passport, the banker’s cheque and all other requisite documents to the Ghana Embassy in Washington for renewal last week Monday.

And, to my utter dismay, my friend burst out loud and laughed his head off and told me that this is no news because these are normal deals that go on at the Embassy and as such her sister was a victim just last year and till date she has not even received a call from the Ghana Embassy,” anonymous victim of some of the dirty deals at the embassy told the paper on phone. .

On Tuesday, I was talking to a Ghanaian colleague in North Carolina and my passport renewal came up, so he asked me whether I have a ‘live’ visa in it, so I said obviously and that my F-1 student visa expires in 2013 and I have other visas.

…Then he said instead of mailing it I should have gone to Washington myself because it is risky. Then I told him I trust the US Postal system, but he insisted it is about our embassy, they can be very funny at times. I just brushed his concerns aside.

…Yesterday, I got a call from the Embassy (last Thursday, May 13, 2008) informing me that they have received all my documents, but I didn’t add my old passport and pictures. I almost had a heart attack. I told him point blank that it is a lie and that the lady at the counter at the post office knows I sent the documents and can even attest to it since she inspected what was it and sealed it in my presence.

…Only for him to retort that they will look again, but he is sure it is not in. I told him whoever, opened the envelope should be held responsible. I am waiting to hear from them by next week Monday.

When I told my friend who warned me after I had sent the passport, all he said was “I should pray that nobody in Ghana is by now preparing to travel on my passport to somewhere else, obviously not to the U.S.

Anyway, this is the beginning I am going to fight this to my last breath. If it is true that passport trafficking is rife at the Embassy, then they are in for a fight. It is going to be a personal crusade,” another anonymous victim pointed out on an angry and daring tone.

Such passport with US visas, are often given priority consideration by Embassies and High Commissions and therefore makes it quite easier for holders to travel overseas as compared to a holder of a Ghanaian passport and for that matter a virgin one. Further investigations here show that when the passports are sent to Ghana, there are other visa contractors in the chain who have gained the mastery of changing pictures of the original holders to that of the new owners.

Some of the affected Ghanaians who spoke to this paper from their US base blamed the consular section of the Ghana mission for the apparent laxity in the system which is being exploited by some Embassy staff who act illegally as middlemen when Ghanaians apply for the renewal of their passports and visas.

The diasporan Ghanaians decried this recent development, which according to them was not the case in the past and registered their strongest displeasure yet against the mysterious circumstances under which passports and other processing papers that are applied for renewal at the Embassy suddenly get missing.