Landing Cards no longer required at Kotoka but travelers expected to wait longer in queues

True to the words of the vice president of Ghana Mahamudu Bawumia to abolish the filling of disembarkation and embarkation cards at the Kokota International Airport, a new process has been implemented with immediate effect.

Passengers travelling through the Kotoka International Airport will no longer complete disembarkation and embarkation forms when arriving or departing.

While this new process was expected to reduce the burden on a traveller, it rather seems to cause more trouble as a Public Notice from the Ghana Immigration Service indicates that travellers are to provide certain information to the immigration officers verbally.

A section of the public notice reads: “Travellers are to present their passports to the designated immigration booths and provide the following information to the Immigration Officers: Address in Ghana and abroad, Telephone numbers, flight details, purpose of visit and profession.”

While it will be easier for passengers to call out their telephone numbers, the purpose of their visit and their profession, most people would have to write their addresses for the immigration officers while being attended to. With this, travellers will spend more time at the immigration booth providing this information.

I have suggested that the immigration service introduces new landing cards that will collect the few details required to be provided at the immigration booth.

The current procedure will see some travellers returning to the booth several times because they didn’t have all the information offhand while others will be writing on a sheet of paper right at the booth.

I hope the authorities look into this to make travelling through Kotoka less stressful.