- Ways to apply
- Citizen by birth through a parent or grandparent (§7)
- Dual citizenship
- Kept, however you apply
Each answer assumes none of your ancestors became a citizen of another country before their child was born. Below is what changes each answer.
On this page›
- 01Who qualifies
- 02Dates that matter
- 03Through your mother
- 04Keeping your citizenship
- 05Ways to apply
- 06The documents
- 07What it takes
- 08Where the records live
- 09Places that changed countries
- 10Law changes
- 11Other options
- 12Sources
Who qualifies, generation by generation
LIKELY
Can you claim Ghanaian citizenship through a parent?
Citizen by birth (§7)
A child of a Ghanaian citizen, born anywhere, is a Ghanaian citizen.
LIKELY
Can you claim Ghanaian citizenship through a grandparent?
Citizen by birth (§7)
A grandchild of a Ghanaian citizen, born on or after 7 January 1993, is a Ghanaian citizen by birth; earlier births go through the parent.
What changes the answer
- LIKELY
If you were born before 1993You were born before 1993, so the claim runs through your parent’s citizenship first.
- LIKELY
If the grandparent is your grandmother and you were born before 1993You were born before 1993, so the claim runs through your parent’s citizenship first.
UNLIKELY
Can you claim Ghanaian citizenship through a great-grandparent?
Two generations
Ghanaian citizenship by birth reaches children and grandchildren of citizens, not great-grandchildren, unless your parent or grandparent is registered as a citizen first.
What would settle itWhether a living grandparent or parent can be registered as a Ghanaian citizen first.
The dates that matter
- 1993
Claiming through your mother or grandmother
In Ghana’s rule, the answer changes when the ancestor you descend through is a woman:
- LIKELY
If the grandparent is your grandmother and you were born before 1993You were born before 1993, so the claim runs through your parent’s citizenship first.
Dual citizenship with your home country
You keep your citizenship.
On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.
Every way to apply, and the law behind it
- LIKELY
Through a parent
- LIKELY
Through a grandparent
The law
What would settle an unsure case
- You were born before 1993, so the claim runs through your parent’s citizenship first.
- UNLIKELY
Through a great-grandparentGhanaian citizenship by birth reaches children and grandchildren of citizens, not great-grandchildren, unless your parent or grandparent is registered as a citizen first.
The law
What would settle an unsure case
- Whether a living grandparent or parent can be registered as a Ghanaian citizen first.
The documents, as the rule lists them
Citizen by birth (§7)
Through a parent or grandparent
- Your ancestor’s Ghanaian birth certificate or passport
- Birth records linking each generation to you
Most countries also want proof that your ancestor didn’t become a citizen somewhere else before their child was born: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter saying there isn’t one.
What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides
Citizen by birth (§7)
- Time
- A few months to register the birth and obtain a Ghanaian passport, once the ancestor’s citizenship is documented.
- Cost
- About $200–500: certified U.S. records, translations if needed, and passport fees.
- The hard part
- Finding your ancestor’s Ghanaian birth certificate or old passport. If your claim runs through a grandparent, it only reaches births on or after 7 January 1993; earlier births go through the parent instead.
- Who decides
- A Ghanaian embassy or consulate for your address, or the Ghana Immigration Service if applying in Ghana.
- The first record
- Your ancestor’s Ghanaian birth certificate or passport, from The Registrar General’s Department, Births and Deaths Registry. Write to the Births and Deaths Registry with the name, birthplace and approximate date; older records may need a search at the district office. bdr.gov.gh ↗
How it’s filed
- Where
- Online on the Ghana Passport Services portal, then biometrics in person at the Embassy of Ghana in Washington, D.C. or the Consulate General in New York. The applicant picks either centre when paying, whatever the state of residence. office list ↗
- How
- Online; you appear in person
- Fee
- About $130
- Decision
- 2–8 weeks
What goes in the file (6)›
- The online passport application, submitted and paid on the portal, printed and signed by the witness
- Ghana Card (National ID): mandatory for a new passport. An applicant abroad with no Ghanaian birth certificate or passport registers with the National Identification Authority online, is vouched for on an Oath of Identity form, and pays the cedi equivalent of USD 115 outside Africa
- The applicant’s birth certificate
- The Ghanaian parent’s Ghanaian passport (or Ghanaian birth certificate or National Identification Card); for a grandchild born on or after 7 January 1993, the Ghanaian grandparent’s passport or birth certificate plus the parent’s birth certificate linking the generations
- Minors: parental consent form signed by the parents, and a copy of a parent’s Ghanaian national ID; the child attends with a parent
- The applicant’s foreign passport
What goes wrong (8)›
- The two U.S. passport centres: Embassy of Ghana, 3512 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 (202-686-4520, passport.washington@mfa.gov.gh); Consulate General of Ghana, 19 East 47th Street, New York, NY 10017 (212-832-1300, nypassport@mfa.gov.gh; passport and visa hours Monday to Thursday, 10 am to 3 pm).
- From the U.S. the fee is $130 for a 32-page passport, the only book the portal offers there, paid online by card; a lost or damaged passport costs $230. In Ghana the same passport fell from GH₵500 to GH₵350 on 13 November 2025. Fees are non-refundable.
- The Embassy quotes up to eight weeks from the biometrics appointment. Missions abroad offer no expedited service. The passport comes back by mail, so bring a prepaid, trackable return envelope.
- There is no separate citizenship registration: the passport application is the claim, and the Passport Office decides whether the citizenship evidence is enough.
- After the passport, a person who also holds another nationality applies to the Ministry of the Interior for a dual-citizenship certificate/card (Form 10: copies of the Ghanaian and foreign passport bio pages, six photos; for a child born abroad also the birth certificate and the Ghanaian parent’s passport). The Embassy charges $250 and the Ministry takes six to twelve months. Its rule that an applicant must have held primary Ghanaian citizenship on 31 December 1996 screens out people of African descent with no Ghanaian parent or grandparent, who apply for Right of Abode instead. A citizen by birth under §7 does not need the certificate to hold a Ghanaian passport (Supreme Court, Asare v. Attorney-General); without the certificate or the Ghanaian passport, entering Ghana on the foreign passport needs a visa.
- Grandparent route: only for births on or after 7 January 1993. Born earlier through a grandparent: the parent’s citizenship must be established first.
- Two guarantors (18 or over, relatives, living in Ghana or the country of residence) and one professional witness who has known the applicant for two years and is not a guarantor sign the printed form. The portal lists the accepted professions.
- From GB: the Ghana High Commission in London; from CA: Ottawa or Toronto; from others, the nearest Ghana mission, through the same portal.
source ↗
Fees are each office’s published fee, converted to U.S. dollars.
Where each record lives, and how to ask for it
birth
Births and Deaths Registry, Ghana (Registrar of Births and Deaths), with district registry offices
A certified copy of an existing registration, by name, date and district of birth. The Ghanaian parent’s own passport usually replaces this for a first-generation claim; the grandparent’s birth certificate or passport is needed for a grandchild.
- Takes
- 2–17 weeks
Good to know (4)›
- Payment goes only through the Registry’s digital platform on Ghana.gov, which takes cards, mobile money and bank transfer. A search of old records costs GH₵10 (about $1).
- Under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act any person may ask for a certified copy, on payment of the prescribed fee, once the Registrar is satisfied it is for a proper purpose, so a grandchild can apply directly. The copy is collected at a Registry office, so a relative in Ghana usually files and collects it.
- Many older births were never registered, or only late. Registration became compulsory in 1965; an adult never registered can still apply for late registration up to age 60.
- For a grandparent born before registration was common, an old Ghanaian passport, a certificate of citizenship or other official record may be the only evidence.
source ↗
Translations
- Into
- English
- Who may translate
- No translation needed
- About
- $0–$50 a page
English is Ghana’s official language and the language of the passport forms; U.S., Canadian, British, Australian, New Zealand and South African documents go in as issued. A document in any other language goes in with a certified English translation.
source ↗
The passport
- Where
- The passport is the claim itself (see “Citizen by birth (§7)”): online portal plus biometrics at the Embassy in Washington or the Consulate General in New York.
- Fee
- About $130
- Time
- 2–8 weeks
source ↗
Places on old papers that lead to Ghana
If your family’s records name one of these, Ghana’s law may be the one that applies. The town decides.
Recent and pending changes
We know of no pending bill or recent court ruling for Ghana.
We re-read the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person checks the rule before we update anything here.
If descent doesn’t reach you
One residence program leads to Ghana without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.