Saturday, August 21, 2010

A Visa: takes you everywhere you want to be

Between vacation and work travel, thoughts on planning for Ghana have taken a back seat for the past few weeks.  Now that I'm back in the US without immediate need for my passport, it's time to apply for my visa.  But I need to book my flights before I can apply.  As of June of this year, United now has non-stop service from Dulles to Accra (as described on ghanaweb), making United my first choice of airlines for this trip. 

The visa application is a single page, with only six types of visas available: diplomatic, official, business, tourist, student and other.  The visa information on the embassy website says that, in addition to the form with my two in-country contacts or residences, for a business visa I need a letter of invitation from "the principals in Ghana or in U.S.A.", which my Ghanaian in-country manager has provided.  Two passport-size photographs are also needed--perhaps to ensure that I'm the person on the passport? Money, in the form of a cashier's check, and a prepaid FedEx envelope complete the package.

Time to compile the information, cross my fingers, and hope for the best.