Residence and work permits are issued to expatriates employed by companies and churches against immigration quotas.
- Visitors travelling on business are required to furnish evidence of the fact, such as a letter from their firm, while those travelling at the invitation of Ghanaian nationals or residence or Ghanaian institutions should furnish a letter of invitation from their hosts.
- Prospective employees may undertake employment within the authorised immigrant quota. Emergency visas may be issued at entry points to travellers who arrive from a country where there is no Ghanaian diplomatic or consular representation, but such applications must be authorised by the Director of the Immigration Service through their sponsors before they arrive Ghana.
- Applications for further extension extensions to visitors’ permit must be made to the Director of the Ghana Immigration Service for consideration.
- Persons who enter the country as visitors are not permitted to take up employment even if there happens to be a vacancy on the Immigrant Quota of a prospective employer.
- Professionals (doctors, lawyers, nurses, etc), are required to provide particulars of their qualifications in order that the eligibility of their registration may be determined.
Dependents of expatriate employees are also granted residence permits but not work permits.
Immigrants intending to work are required to obtain the necessary permits prior to their arrival in the country. The Ghana Immigration Service does not consider applications for work permits from persons who are in the country as visitors.
