James Gyakye Quayson on how to save youth from being 'milked' by advanced countries in visa application fees

"I personally believe that most of these so-called advanced countries are milking our people" with visa application fees, Deputy Minister-designate for Foreign Affairs, James Gyakye Quayson has said.

To him, “most of these countries are using that as revenue to support their embassies. And if we don’t know that, we think that, oh, they are rich countries so they are able to afford to set up embassies [here in Ghana]. That is not the case. Most of the revenues are coming from us [Ghanaians] to support their embassies, and we’ve got to find a way to put an end to that, he said when he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament last Friday [July 25, 2025] for his vetting.

He was answering a question on whether he will push for a policy to ensure that visa application fees are refunded by foreign embassies when the application is denied.

Mr Quayson said, "I think it is an administrative sector policy" that ought to be looked at.

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“On an average, most African youth, because of lack of opportunities, want to travel outside. A visa is not cheap. Even just the application form alone is about $160, which could be a month or two months' pay for some of our youth on labour, and these embassies are collecting this money and denying almost 90% to 95% of them,” he said

"We have to find a way to streamline this to save our youth the money. Most of these countries are using that as revenue to support their embassies. And if we don’t know that, we think that, oh, the rich countries will be able to afford to set up an embassy. That’s not the case. Most of the revenues are coming from us to support their embassies, and we’ve got to find a way to put an end to that,” he added.

He said Ghana’s foreign policy must reflect the country’s interests.

“Foreign policy is not about protecting the foreign nations only. First and foremost, it should be protecting us. It should be reciprocated. Our domestic policy is what we extend to the foreign policy.”

Watch a video of his response at the vetting