Year of Return: Visa shortage hits Ghana consulate in U.S

Applying for a Ghana visa at the Houston consulate U.S, will no longer be a straightforward process for people seeking visas, for now at least.

The Honorary Consulate General of Ghana in Houston, U.S has published a non-issuance of visas on its website owing to the exhaustion of supply.

In a statement, the consulate said “we have exhausted our supply of visas, we are unable to fulfill any applications at this time. We are expecting a supply of fresh visas from the embassy shortly”.



Ghana has designated 2019 as the Year of Return to celebrate four centuries since the first African slaves were forcibly taken abroad.

The West African country has been running a strategic marketing campaign targeting African Americans and the diaspora, and various events have been arranged.

There has been a huge patronage of the Year of Return campaign as about 100 afro Americans and afro Caribbeans have been the conferred citizenship.

The focus has been on honouring the liberation from slavery. But it has also served as a marketing exercise to popularise Ghana as a tourism destination with Trans-Atlantic trade appeal.

The Year of Return campaign hopes to capitalize on historical links with African Americans to boost Ghana’s tourism industry.