Ghanaians in the West Coast and Midland Regions of the US to Have Easy Access to Biometric Data Capturing Centers.

The Christian Journal, New York – As part of the avowed aim of Hon. Shirley A.   Botchway, ( MP) Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of Ghana to improve consular services to the Ghanaian Diaspora, The Ghana Mission in New York is partnering with VFS global to expand  biometric capturing process in the US west coast , the Midland region and other designated locations in the United States.  Until this arrangement, Ghanaians in the West Coast of US were flying for 5 hours to New York or Washington D.C to process their passport applications.

This move commenced on Friday, August 18, 2017 when the Ghana Mission signed a cooperation agreement with VFS global to start the project.  Unveiling the project, Hon. Bernard Quatson, the Consul General of Ghana to New York pointed out that the goal of the Mission is to ensure that the biometric capturing process is accessible in places with high Ghanaian demographics like Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago.

On her part, Ghana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Martha Pobee said the partnership will allow the Ghana Mission to improve on service delivery while catering to the needs of the growing number of biometric passport applicants in the USA.

Mr.  Anil Katoch , VFS Global Chief Operating Officer-Americas said that VFS Global is an outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions with contracts in over 123 cities worldwide.

According to Mr. Katoch, the company, which has 23,000 office locations, manages visa and passport issuance-related administrative and non-discretionary tasks for its clients. He said apart from ensuring easy access to passport applications, the partnership with the Ghana Mission will create employment to Ghanaians in the Diaspora.

Present at the signing ceremony were Mr. Fred Ansong Dwamena, Executive Secretary General of the National Council of Ghanaian Associations (NCOGA); Mr. Abdul Salam, President of Yankassa Association of USA.

Also present were Mr. Paul Odei of International Travel Exchange and the representative of the Travel and Tour industry, and Mr. Mohamed Mardah, a representative of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce of USA.