I have a Ghanaian friend in Accra, who is 26 years of age. He claims that he has applied and been waiting to receive his passport since May of 2009. Recently, he said that Ghana has changed their passports and the Foreign Embassy had burned down, stalling the processing of passports. Therefore, he claims that he will have to call every couple of weeks to see when his passport will be ready and that he will be bribed to pay more, when he finally is able to retrieve it. My question is... is it really this difficult to get a Ghanaian passport? If it is not this difficult, what would cause someone to have an extended delay with obtaining a passport? Thanks

Are you being asked to send money to help him?

No, he said that he has paid for the passport. Previously, for a while, he was complaining that he didn't have the money to pay for the passport up front. Yet he claims it is taking a long time to get his passport. I just want to know if I should believe him or if something else is up.

If you've only "met" through email/chats then this sounds like a very old and popular scam.

I didn't meet him over the net, I met him in Ghana 3 years ago during a study abroad program. We've kept in touch over the years and he has expressed his interest in eventually leaving Ghana for the UK or US.

Information about Ghana passport from Ghana embassy in DC
Ghana Emabassy, Washington DC (http://www.ghanaembassy.org/corp_div_details_embassy.cfm?EmpID=153&BrandsID=45)

It takes only 2 weeks... the applications are send back to Ghana for processing and send back to US.

No I didn't have to send any money or any thing so what you mean by scam and What is the problem if the money has been paid 15,000?

How can he come here and marry me and stay?