Martin Heward Mills, the first person to board a flight from London to Accra using the Ghanacard e-passport
Martin Heward Mills, the first person to board a flight from London to Accra using the Ghanacard e-passport
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A Ghanaian resident in the United Kingdom, Martin Heward Mills is probably the first Ghanaian to board a flight to Ghana using the Ghanacard e-passport. In a tweet on Sunday, 13th February 2022 Martin wrote “Just took a flight from London to Accra using my Ghana Card only, … amazing”.
This testimony comes as manifestation to the announcement by government that following the key ceremony in Montreal on February 9 at the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), holders of the Ghanaian national identity card can travel through 44,000 airports in 197 countries to Ghana using the card as an e-passport.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, 10th February, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia indicated that the key ceremony in Montreal in practical terms means that it will now be faster and more effective for border control authorities to verify the identity of holders of the Ghanacard.
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Furthermore, the holder of a Ghanacard will be allowed to board a flight to Ghana from any airport, just as with the normal biometric passport, without the need for a visa.
Also, Diasporan Ghanaians who hold the Ghanacard will not require a visa to travel to Ghana.
Within ECOWAS the Ghanacard can be used to travel to any country. Traveling outside ECOWAS however, will require that you use your normal biometric passport which will contain your visas. In the not too distant future, we expect that electronic visas will be issued under ICAO 2.0 protocols. When this starts, electronic visas could be issued on the Ghanacard under bilateral arrangements with other countries.
Already, government through the Ghana Airports Company Limited has issued communication to all airlines and airports globally that effective 1st March they should allow holders of the Ghanacard to board flights to Ghana without visa.
