Personnel at the passport office
THE MINISTER of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni on Monday commissioned a Biometric Passport Application Centre (PAC) in Ho, the Volta regional capital.
The Ho centre forms part of six others opened across the country to decongest the only one in Accra and decentralise passport applications in the country to ensure more efficient service.
The centre which was constructed by DEFIAT Construction Company contains state-of-the-art facilities needed for processing biometric passports. It will also house personnel from immigration, police CID, birth and deaths registry, defence intelligence personnel and all other officials required to ensure proper authentication and issuance of passports to the public.
In his address, the minister noted that opening the office is a step towards obtaining total countrywide coverage of passport applications. He was hopeful that the Ho office will go long way in eradicating the ills associated with the old way of applying for passports especially through middlemen, since the new system will need the physical presence of applicants before issuing them with the travel document.
He said similar centres have been inaugurated in Kumasi, Sunyani, Sekondi-Takoradi, Tamale and Accra and that the ministry hopes to establish PACs in all regional and district capitals to make it less cumbersome for people to obtain passports.
Alhaji Mumuni said by establishing these PACs, Ghana is fully compliant with the directive of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for all member countries to commence the introduction of the biometric system last year and ensure complete migration to machine readable biometric passports by November 2015.
At the same time, Ghana has complied with the requirement of ECOWAS for member states to adopt the biometric passport to promote a uniform regime for the free movement of persons in the Sub-Region, he added.
Alhaji Mumuni explained that the November 2015 ultimatum implies that all old passports except the hand written ones remain valid until November 2015 and therefore advised those with such passports not to rush in changing them
He said the biometric passport has special security features that render it forgery proof and prevent illegal multiple acquisition of the document for criminal purposes.
The foreign minister urged the public to assist the security agencies and personnel at the office to clamp down on foreigners and other unqualified persons who attempt to acquire the biometric passports.
Volta Regional Minster, Joseph Amenowode expressed gratitude to all the stakeholders who helped in establishing the  Ho PAC. He was hopeful that the office will help reduce the difficulty that people in the region face in obtaining passports.
He also called on the media to help educate the public on the procedures in acquiring the biometric passports since it is very important for all Ghanaians to obtain one.
He therefore urged citizens to acquire passports for national identification purposes, data for the birth and deaths registry, electoral purposes, registration of SIM cards and for censuses.
Mr. Amenowode also urged personnel at the passport office to exhibit a high level of professionalism to ensure smooth running of the passport office.
Below, we list the steps required in obtaining a biometric passport. First is the purchase of passport application forms from the approved sales points which include Ecobank, Ghana Commercial Bank and the National Investment Bank.
Next, the completed forms must be submitted together with the relevant documents to PAC where a digital photograph and biometric data-fingerprints of the applicants will be taken.
Applicant then receives a submission receipt with passport collection date.
The approved passport fees are as follows; Express service-three working days-GH¢100.00 and regular service-15 working days-GH¢50.00.
 From Fred Duodu, Ho