NIA charging foreigners $120 for non-citizen Ghana Card

The National Identification Authority (NIA) is charging foreigners $120 each for a non-citizen Ghana card.

This has raised concerns among the foreigner community in the country who say the amount is outrageous as they are already being charged for the renewal of resident permits.

The NIA in an advertisement in the Daily Graphic last week said, “The National Identification Authority (NIA) in line with the National Identification Register Act, 2008 (Act 750), L.I 2111, is registering all foreign nationals resident in Ghana for 90 days or more and issuing them with the non-citizens Ghana Card issued at any Foreign Identification Management System (FIMS) registration centre.

“The non-citizen Ghana Card shall be used for ALL transactions which require identification. Eligible foreign nationals who do not have a non-citizen citizen Ghana card are in breach of the law and may be refused access to essential services in Ghana,” the advert noted.

The NIA said all foreign nationals living in Ghana above age six are required to register for the card except “foreign nationals and their families working for the United Nations (UN), Embassies and Consulates.”

The NIA further warned that no foreigner will be issued with a residence permit or be allowed to renew their permit without the non-citizen Ghana card.

Meanwhile, the International Spouses Association of Ghana (ISAG), an association of spouses of Ghana citizens are also protesting the move. They questioned the relevance of the card because they already possess identity documents which bear the same details that would be featured on the cards.

They content that they must not be included in the category of expatriates since they fall in a unique category by virtue of the fact that they are married

The spokesperson for the International Spouses Association of Ghana, Katie Danquah said “despite fully supporting the aim of producing a new national ID and electronic register that will enable the government plan for all persons living within Ghana, we strongly believe that foreign spouses of citizens of Ghana cannot be placed on the same categories as all other foreigners,” she said.

She added that, “the special circumstances of foreign spouses entitle them to equal treatment within socio-economic laws that benefit from their Ghanaian counterparts.”