BREAKING: USA Lifts Visa Sanction Imposed On Ghanaians

USA Lifts Visa Sanction Imposed On Ghanaians

BREAKING: USA Lifts Visa Sanction Imposed On Ghanaians

&NewLine;<p><strong>BREAKING&colon; USA Lifts Visa Sanction Imposed On Ghanaians<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The United States Government has lifted the visa sanctions imposed on some category of Ghanaians in 2019&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The sanctions were over claims that Ghana was unreasonably delaying the return of its nationals ordered to be removed from the US&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The lifting of the visa restrictions followed an agreement reached between Ghanaian officials and their United States counterparts which resulted in the lifting of the sanctions on January 16&comma; 2020&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<&excl;-- Standby Ad -->&NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle"&NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block"&NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-6098654251180599"&NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"2837309348"&NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto"&NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins>&NewLine;<script>&NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;<&sol;script>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The restrictions involved the suspension of the issuance of A3 and G5 visas for the domestic staff of Ghanaian Diplomats and limited validity of B1&sol;B2 visas issued to Ghanaian officials of the Executive and legislative branches and all officials on the government payroll and their spouse and children under 21years of age&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Ms&period; Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey&comma; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration announced this on the floor of Parliament&comma; in Accra&comma; in response to a question posed by Mr&period; Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa&comma; Member of Parliament &lpar;MP&rpar; for North Tongu&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Mr&period; Ablakwa wanted to know the terms of the agreement reached with the United States of America leading to the lifting of the visa restrictions&comma; and the number of Ghanaians removed from the USA&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Ms&period; Botchwey also indicated that during the period of the sanctions&comma; 125 Ghanaians who were ordered to be removed from the USA were deported&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>She explained that her ministry had initiated discussions with American officials for an immediate resolution of the matter&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>She said she undertook an official visit to meet the Under Secretary for Political Affairs of the US State Department and officials of the Department of Homeland Security &lpar;DHS&rpar; and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement &lpar;ICE&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Ms Botchwey noted that during the meeting&comma; she proposed a roadmap for the consideration of the US authorities to resolve all issues related to Ghanaians cited for deportation to Ghana&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>She said the suggested plan was accepted by the US side&comma; and it was decided that both sides held further consultations in a mutually beneficial manner&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-very-dark-gray-color">Ms<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;occupygh&period;com&sol;usa-lifts-visa-sanction-imposed-on-ghanaians">&period;<&sol;a> Botchwey said meetings were also held with the Assistant Secretary of State of the United States in June 2019&comma; following which the two sides agreed to resolve all outstanding issues&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>She said currently&comma; interviews for persons cited for deportation as agreed between the two sides were ongoing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>She however stated that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic&comma; the issuance of Emergency Travel Certificates to facilitate their removal was deferred until borders were re-opened&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>She noted that both sides had put in place modalities intended to facilitate and ensure that a procedure was followed in the identification and issuance of the appropriate travel documents in accordance with Ghana’s obligation under international protocols&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>She stated that whenever there was the need for specific intervention on humanitarian grounds&comma; health or family that was done by engaging the relevant US authorities&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle"&NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block"&NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"autorelaxed"&NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-6098654251180599"&NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"9741413754"><&sol;ins>&NewLine;<script>&NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;<&sol;script>&NewLine;<p><strong>Source<&sol;strong>&colon; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;OccupyGh&period;com">OccupyGh&period;com<&sol;a> <&sol;p><p class&equals;"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;chat&period;whatsapp&period;com&sol;JVGCtXdCoiKHCI3CXwMC5l" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener">Tap To Join Our<&sol;a> WhatsApp Community<&sol;p> &NewLine;

Elisha Opoku-Fosu: Elisha Opoku-Fosu is a final year student of the University of Ghana, pursuing a degree in Fine Arts. Elisha is a fascinating celebrity writer. I also find local politics interesting and have plans of taking up a political task in the near future. You can contact me on Phone: +233242067933 or Email me on: ElishaOPF@gmail.com