Inside Ghana’s Visa Fee Controversy: Should Embassies Refund Rejected Applicants?
Editor’s note: Thousands of Ghanaians spend huge sums every year chasing visas for education, work, tourism, and better opportunities abroad, only for many applications to end in rejection with no refund of processing fees. The issue has sparked growing public anger and debate over whether foreign embassies are unfairly profiting from rejected applicants or simply enforcing standard international procedures.
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In this opinion piece, YEN.com.gh editor Kofi Owusu examines the growing controversy surrounding visa refusal rates, the financial burden on ordinary Ghanaians, arguments for and against refund policies, and why many believe reforms are urgently needed to make the process fairer and more transparent.
For many Ghanaians who queue at the various embassies in Accra daily looking for visas to travel outside for school, business, family visits or job opportunities, the process is a gamble, where you are either guaranteed a win or a defeat.
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Many families fund visa applications through loans, contributions from relatives, or years of savings.
A rejected visa can therefore mean more than disappointment, it can lead to debt, postponed education, failed business opportunities, emotional distress, and loss of confidence in the migration system.
A broad public discussion has been provoked by this financial strain on Ghanaian applicants, with many people asking the same question: Should foreign embassies in Ghana be required to reimburse rejected applications for all or some percentage of these fees?
The argument for fee refunds after visa rejections
Many Ghanaian proponents of the refund argument have accused the various embassies of exploiting applicants for financial gain, with the high visa refusal rates as a reference.
According to the US State Department's Travel website, a standard non-immigrant visa requires around $185 (GH₵2,147.85 at the current rate) for its processing.
In a country with a national minimum wage of GH₵21.77 per day, most Ghanaians would have to work for almost 100 days to earn the amount required by the US Embassy.
Also, for an average Ghanaian applicant, paying a $185 fee for a US visa is a big risk and a huge deduction from people’s monthly income.
For a German 90-day short-term or Schengen visa, an applicant is required to pay €90 (GH₵1,206.63 at the current rate), while a UK visitor visa costs £127 (over GH₵1,900 at the current rate).
In 2025, Consular General at the US Embassy Elliot Fertik confirmed that 36,000 out of 61,000 applications from Ghanaian applicants for work, study or visits were either denied or left incomplete in 2024.
Only 25,000 Ghanaians were issued visas, with over $9 million spent on applications.
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The 2026 State Department data report indicated that the US visa refusal rate for Ghanaian applicants sits at 64.3% for B1/B2 tourist and business visas and up to 81% for F1 student visas as of 2025.
Ghana is ranked 17th overall in Africa on the list of countries with the highest US visa refusal rate, meaning that there is a higher probability of applicants getting denied than approved at the embassy.
Data from the German Embassy also indicates that 24,945 out of 56,000 Schengen visa applications submitted by Ghanaians were rejected in 2024.
The Schengen visa rejection rate for Ghanaians also stands at 45.5%, with the country ranking fifth among African nations, while the UK visa rejection rate stands at approximately 46%, with both countries’ embassies making a lot of money.
Many feel that the embassies’ decision to keep the full fee from rejected applicants is more of a financial forfeiture.
Other critics also cite bias and point to the high visa rejection rates for African nations as another reason for embassies to operate with a fee refund policy.
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Some international migration monitoring groups have argued about the disparity in the number of rejections of Africans compared to individuals from other continents.
For instance, the German Schengen visa rejection rate, despite its global average of over 18%, often hits 40% or higher for some West African countries.
As such, critics argue that the embassies benefit financially from Ghanaian applicants, who are desperate to relocate abroad.
Another major concern among applicants is the lack of detailed explanations after visa denials.
Many rejected applicants receive generic refusal notices without specific guidance on what led to the decision, making it difficult to improve future applications.
The argument against fee refunds after visa rejections
For foreign embassies, the argument for non-refunds of fees after visa rejections is that the fee is not a payment for a visa, but rather a processing fee for the application itself.
They have argued, with support from international conventions, that the non-refundable fees were legal and necessary for administrative costs and logistical reasons.
In a 2025 interview with Joy FM, the Consul General of the United States Embassy in Ghana, Mr Elliot Fertik, explained that US law required them to collect the $185 visa processing fees from applicants.
They have argued that the monies accumulated are used to cover consular officers’ salaries, biometric software, verification documents, background checks and other things.
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The embassies also argue that a lot of visas are rejected to clear out fraudulent practices by applicants looking to relocate from the country.
According to them, refunding visa processing fees would result in a massive increase in fraudulent applications, overwhelm the system and affect people who want to travel with genuine documents.
Another argument from these foreign embassies is that they do not refund these fees in response to the Ghanaian Foreign Ministry and their international missions’ non-refund policy for consular application fees.
What is the way forward?
The debate highlights the severe economic reality facing Ghanaian youth and the diplomatic issues between foreign embassies that are making a lot of money and our country, which is losing a lot of money.
A possible middle ground to remedy these concerns could include partial refunds for clearly qualified applicants, reduced fees for repeat applications after refusals, or expanded pre-screening systems to reduce avoidable rejections.
Until bilateral reforms accepted by all stakeholders are implemented, there will continue to be longer queues at the embassies in Accra and complaints over high fees that Ghanaian applicants will pay for their visa processing.
Read the rest of Kofi Owusu's column on YEN.com.gh
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of YEN.com.gh.
Source: YEN.com.gh
