Australian Embassy in Ghana: Address & Contact Details

Do you reside in Ghana and you are thinking of traveling to Australia? Trust me, that can’t be possible if you don’t know about the Australian embassy in Ghana.

So if you want to know about this high commission, you are in safe hands.

Australia is a multicultural and multiracial country. This, therefore, reflects on the country’s food, lifestyle, cultural practices as well as experience. Australian citizens are energized, innovative, and outward-looking.

According to research by the Australian Tourism Statistics 2020, more than seven million visitors flew to Australia last year, fantasised by the world-class food and wine.

Welcoming you into the country are beautiful beaches, unique flora and fauna, friendly people as well and a relaxed atmosphere.

Such a graceful sight, tell me who wouldn’t want to experience that? However, you need a visa to be part of this.

In Accra, the Australian High Commission does not provide visa or immigration services. This duty rests with the Australian High Commission in Nairobi, Kenya (for residents of Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Mali).

Travelers from Ghana need their visa applications reviewed by the immigration office based in Nairobi. This goes for applicants from Burkina Faso and Mali too.

This post thereby gives you all you need about the Australian embassy in Ghana. 

Australian High Commission in Ghana Contact details

• Location: 2, Second Rangoon Close, Cantonments Accra.
• Phone: +233-302-216400
• Fax: +233-302-216410
• Website: click here
• Email: click here
• Office hours: 08:00-16:15

For applicants based in Ghana, they are required to visit the Australian Biometric Collection Centre (ABCC) in Accra to lodge their application. They will also need to provide their biometrics in the form of digital fingerprints as well as a facial photograph.

The Australian Biometric Centre is on the 1st Floor of Atlantic Towers, Liberation Road, Airport City, and Accra. 

Why do People Travel to Australia?

A lot of people go to Australia for different reasons. Some go for tourism, business, studies, health as well as vacations, and many more. Majorly, most people go for tourism and education, so, let’s explain these two.

Tourism in Australia

If you follow the news, tourism is one of Australia’s biggest export industries. It helped add more than A$37.9 billion to the economy in 2015-16. It also employed roughly one million people.

With 46 cents in every tourism dollar spent in regional areas, tourism is essential to both the metropolitan as well as local communities in Australia.

Furthermore, between 2014 to 2015, a record of about 7.1 million people visited Australia from overseas. The highest number came from New Zealand, China, Great Britain, the United States, Singapore as well as Japan.

Around 40 percent of all spending by tourists in Australia was by Asian visitors. Most Australian visitors are from China and India. This influx explains the high population of a tourist visit.

Why Study in Australia?

Many students travel to Australia for academic reasons. Education is Australia’s largest service export. In 2016, more than 440,000 international students did study and lived in Australia, adding A$19.5 billion to the Australian economy.

Also, more than half of Australia’s universities are in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (2015–2016) and six are in the top 100. This ranking makes Australia the right choice for academics.

Have you noticed that international students are attracted to Australia by its high standard of teaching, its internationally accepted qualifications, and its welcoming and diverse society?  Exactly the dream study environment! 

How to Avoid Australian Visa Scams

You have to take caution when applying for a visa in Accra. The Australian High Commission has reported several visa scams.

These scammers can reach you out of the blue by post, email, phone, or face-to-face offering a visa in return for payments, personal details as well as identity documents.

They always claim to know an officer in the Australian High Commission, be a ‘registered agent’ or ‘Australian visa application service’.

These scammers will try to trick you into believing that they are genuine, by posing as staff from an Australian Government department.

They also use websites that might be similar to official Government sites. These illegal operators end up giving incorrect advice, stealing your money, encouraging you to lie on your application forms, and failing you.

Some Warning Signs to look out for

• Getting an offer out of the blue for a ‘guaranteed’ Australian visa. This offer comes via email, post, over the phone, on a website, or even face-to-face.
• It claims to be your ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’, or the ‘only’ chance to travel or migrate to Australia.
• The scammer asks for payment to them directly instead of paying the government department and claims that only they can pay the department’s fees. This payment is usually for registration. 
• The scammer claims to have a unique relationship with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP).
• They tell you they need to have your original documents with them. Please avoid this set of people. 

Tips on Visa Applications

• The only official Australian Government provider of visas is the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP). DIBP’s official website is www.border.gov.au.
• Every email you receive from the Australian High Commission in Accra must end with “@dfat.gov.au”.
• DIBP only charges a one-off fee at the time you lodge your visa application. Payments are done directly to the department and do not require an agent to pay the fee in any way on your behalf.
• No one can influence the result of a visa application or the visa decision-making process. Only authorized officers from DIBP can issue you with a visa after you meet all the visa requirements.
• Please note that DIBP does not have any unique relationships with outside agencies and does not give preferential treatment to anyone.

How to Protect Yourself from Scammers

• Always be suspicious if you are contacted by phone, post, and email or approached in person about a visa you did not request. Walk away from the person, hang up the phone immediately, or ignore the email/letter! The Government will never contact people out of the blue offering visas.
• When using an Australian migration agent, be sure they are in the office of the Migration Agents Registration. However, if they are operating outside Australia, please check with the relevant Business Registration office. 
• Also, do not give or send anyone your original identity documents. Government departments might wish to view your original documents in person or might ask for certified photocopies but will never ask to keep your original documents.

Depending on the reason behind your visit to Australia, take precautions. Please never provide your personal, credit card, or banking details in an email or over the phone—scammers will use your details to commit identity fraud or steal your money.

Try your best to visit the Australian embassy in Ghana yourself, don’t leave your visa procurements in the hands of people.

Conclusion

Now that you know about the Australian embassy in Ghana, you can visit them today, mail them, or put a call through. Once you settle everything there, you can go ahead in your journey. Have a safe trip whenever you decide to travel.

I hope you find this post useful, feel free to drop your comments in the box below. Thanks for reading.