Obtaining study visas to the USA/Canada despite the 2025 ban

Visa application appointment dates to the USA and Canada are scheduled for 2025! What will I do as a student planning to go study at these destinations? Here is all you need to know from the embassies of the USA and Canada in Ghana.

What is a Visa?

A visa is a conditional authorization granted to an emigrant or a foreigner to have the permission to travel into a country for a stay or a particular purpose. However, you will need a visa to process your scholarship application or application for admission.

USA/ Canadian Visa Ban

Many students in Ghana have been cast adrift over the long duration of the US visa appointment schedule. Prospective international students for America are required to appear in person for a visa interview at the embassy and are required to schedule an appointment for the interview.

According to the US embassy in Ghana, due to COVID-19 restrictions, there has been backlogs of visa application that needs to be attended to before attending to new applications.

With this development, the available date that students who aspire to further their academic journey in the US have their appointments being scheduled from September 2025 after full booking of the available date in 2022 till the next unavailable date. The long duration of the visa appointment scheduled will have an adverse effect on the scholarship opportunity obtained or the admission status.

The situation will indeed have an adverse impact on your chances of obtaining a visa to study abroad. It is sometimes, exasperating when you apply for a visa at the expense of attending an appointment in the process of securing an official grant to leave your country for the US to further your education, but your appointment is scheduled far from the day the date of starting your academic journey in the institution.

However, students may be discouraged and disheartened when their visa appointment date is scheduled in 2025, this risk the chances of you having the best opportunity in your life to study outside Ghana or your home country hence missing a great opportunity for cultural diversity, the experience of new academic system and environment.

You may ask yourself, is there a way of obtaining a visa to travel outside the country to honor your admission to study abroad? Yes! There is a way forward on in obtaining a visa to travel to the US for your academic experience.

How to obtain your study visa in the era of long appointment dates

Many are evaluating the option of traveling to the neighboring African countries to have their visas but there are other better ways to obtain your study visa through an expedited application.

The expedite visa application is a window of visa application offered by the US consulate for non-emigrants with an emergency including medical needs, Business travels, Funerals, and educational travels but not all guaranteed with an exact interview schedule date before your travel or study program starts to date. To have access to the expedited visa application, there are five steps to follow in filing an expedited visa application. Remember that integrity is very important hence be mindful that any fabricated statements about the need for an emergency appointment may adversely affect the credibility of your case during the visa interview.

In the expedited visa application for students in their quest to study in the US, the purpose of the travel is to begin within a validity period of 60 days of the US consulate in Accra, Ghana. If you have already in any way been refused a visa at the embassy, you are illegible to apply for expedited visa appointments. For your emergency application to be considered, you must add the A scanned copy of your Form I-20 or DS-2019 to your request.

Step-by-step procedure for applying for an expedited visa appointment

There are 5 steps to go through and our Counsellors are happy to help today but note step 5 below.

Step 5: If the Embassy approves your request, then you will receive an email alerting you to schedule your emergency appointment online.

IDP Ghana is committed to helping students to achieve their dreams of studying abroad with our competent counsellor. Talk to your counsellor for free without no hiding charges in assisting in your expedited visa application request.