The Ghana Mission to the United Nations and Consulate General in New York is scheduled to return to work on Wednesday, July 1, after being closed for almost four months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a statement signed by the Consul General, Professor Samuel Amoako, the Consulate will partially resume work in line with the New York State’s COVID-19 preventive protocols.
The Consulate closed down on March 15 in compliance with the declaration of a state of emergency by President Donald Trump and the state government due to COVID-19.
Listing a number of regulations put in place to minimise the spread of the disease, the Consulate disclosed that it will only be providing online postal visa services to the public.
“Counter or in-person visa services are hereby suspended until further notice. All applications are to be completed online and mailed to the Consulate together with supporting documents and appropriate fees. The Consulate does not accept physical cash or personal cheques as payments for consular services rendered,” it stated as a caution to the public.
Passport applicants will not be required to congregate at the Consulate to pick up passports as all issued passports will be mailed to them.
The Consulate will only allow limited “in-person visits for bio-data capturing for applicants who have appointments for that day only.”
The statement further urged all persons who would have to come to the Consulate for their appointments to observe the necessary COVID-19 safety protocols.
In the same vein, Ghana’s High Commission to London will resume full operations on the same day, July 1.
Its decision also follows “the announcement of the introduction of new measures by the UK government to gradually ease the lockdown and the reopening of non-essential retail shops as well as the hospitality industry.”
In a separate statement, the Commission says it will issue new appointment dates via emails to passport applicants whose appointments were affected by the lockdown and closure of the Mission in the coming week.
“As soon as this batch of applicants has been served, new applications will be facilitated hopefully, effective 15th July, 2020. Applicants are to note that anyone who turns up at the Mission without a confirmed appointment will not be served,” the statement added.
The High Commission also pledged to observe all safety protocols to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus at its workplace.
