AmCham Ghana, the U.S. Embassy in Ghana, and PwC on Thursday, January 16, 2020, relaunched the Business Visa Appointment Program (BVAP) on a pilot basis to streamline the visa appointment process for qualified companies.
Potential BVAP companies will be nominated by the U.S. Embassy Foreign Commercial Service, Economic Section, and Foreign Agricultural Service, for approval by the Consul General.
This program is for full-time employees of qualified companies traveling for business purposes. It does not cover accompanying family members, or for employees traveling for personal reasons.
Employees are required to complete a visa application, pay the visa fee, and use the online appointment system to book a visa interview, even if the interview date is after the date of travel. The Consular Section will not approve a BVAP request when these steps have not been taken.
An approved BVAP request does not guarantee a favorable visa adjudication. It is up to the discretion of the interviewing Consular Officer whether an applicant qualifies for a visa and whether the visa should be limited.
The Embassy believes this program will be mutually beneficial and would help companies secure favorable visa appointment dates for their workers. The program is currently being run on pilot basis with 10 companies and would be open to other qualified companies in due course.
