Ghanaian football fans planning to travel to the United States for the 2026 FIFA World Cup are set to benefit from a new visa facilitation initiative designed to ease delays and reduce uncertainty in the application process.
The programme, known as FIFA PASS, will prioritise visa interview appointments for verified World Cup ticket holders. Officially referred to as the FIFA Prioritised Appointment Scheduling System, the initiative targets non-immigrant visa applicants who can confirm possession of valid match tickets ahead of the tournament.
The development was disclosed by Matthew Asada, Press Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Accra, during an interview on Citi FM.
According to Asada, the Embassy is keen to ensure that football fans are not prevented from attending the global showpiece due to administrative bottlenecks.
“This will ensure that any non-immigrant visa applicant who is a vetted FIFA 2026 World Cup ticket holder is able to get an appointment before the World Cup itself,” he explained.
Although the system is still being finalised, Asada said detailed operational guidelines will be announced in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, the U.S. Embassy has already begun expanding access by releasing thousands of additional non-immigrant visa appointment slots, with availability starting this week.
The move follows the deployment of extra consular officers in Accra to manage the anticipated surge in applications as interest in the 2026 World Cup continues to grow.
“We’ve already released visa appointments for this week and next week, and we’ll continue releasing them in batches. This is part of our commitment to ensuring a successful tournament,” Asada added.
