Ghana Digital Nomad Visa

Ghana has announced a digital nomad visa, but it hasn't launched and nothing official has been published about it. There's no income requirement, savings threshold, fee, duration or renewal rule. Third-party sources like Glomad expect it to target self-employed people and business owners who earn their income outside Ghana. Until the Ghana Immigration Service publishes the rules, nobody can say whether they'd qualify, including someone living on rental income and ETF dividends.

For now, remote workers enter on the tourist (B2) or business (B1) e-visa, which launched May 25, 2026 at evisa.immigration.gov.gh. It's single entry and must be used within 90 days of issue. The immigration officer sets your stay at the border, up to 60 days. Fees depend on speed: $260 for Standard (96 hours), $338 for Priority (48 hours) and $442 for Express (5 hours), the same for every nationality. The e-visa doesn't allow work, and nothing on the portal covers stays beyond 60 days. Staying longer means an extension or a residence or work permit. Because the nomad visa's presence rules are unknown, you can't plan a split-year schedule around it yet.

Long-term outcomes are also undefined. Nothing official says time on a nomad visa would count toward permanent residency or citizenship. If you're planning a move that lasts a decade, the established routes are the Right of Abode for people of African descent, work permits and GIPC investor pathways.

Waiting makes sense if you're a self-employed remote worker with flexible timelines who wants Ghana specifically and can use the e-visa for the first year or two. It's a poor fit if you need a guaranteed route today for dependents, permanent residency, or tax planning built on defined day-count rules.

Local tax regime and what it means for nomads

The visa has no special tax status, because it hasn't launched. So the question is how Ghana taxes you under its ordinary rules, and those turn on whether you count as a resident.

Under the Income Tax Act 2015 (Act 896), you're resident if you're in Ghana for 183 days or more in any 12-month period that begins or ends within the tax year. The Ghana Revenue Authority has confirmed this publicly. Residents are taxed on worldwide income, including foreign income, and the Commissioner-General has said so directly. Non-residents are taxed only on income from Ghana, at a flat 25% rate on employment income.

In practice, staying under 183 days generally keeps your foreign income out of Ghana's tax net, and going over brings it in. Once you're resident, assume remote salary, freelance income, dividends, pension payments and rental income are all in scope. Nothing published limits Ghana to local income. How Ghana treats capital gains on foreign investments, like selling index funds in a US brokerage account, isn't addressed for this visa, so get local advice before realizing large gains. Nothing says holding the visa makes you a resident automatically, so don't assume it does either way.

No special regime has been announced. There's nothing like Portugal's old NHR or Italy's flat tax for new residents. If you do become resident, expect to get a tax identification number and file an annual return.

Ghana has income tax treaties with countries like the UK, Germany and Mauritius, but I found no income tax treaty with the US. The only agreement between the two is a narrow 2001 exchange of notes on shipping and aircraft income. Double taxation gets handled through US domestic relief, covered below.

For US citizens and green card holders

The US taxes you on worldwide income wherever you live and whatever visa you hold. Three things matter most: the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE), the Foreign Tax Credit (FTC) and foreign account reporting.

FEIE (Form 2555). For 2026 you can exclude up to $132,900 of earned income. That covers salary, freelance and consulting income. It doesn't cover dividends, capital gains, pension or 401(k) withdrawals, or Social Security. It also doesn't reduce self-employment tax. The US has no totalization agreement with Ghana, so a self-employed person can expect to owe US self-employment tax on top of anything Ghana charges.

Most nomads qualify through the Physical Presence Test, which needs 330 full days outside the US in any 12-month period. Days in Ghana count, and so do days in any other foreign country. A long trip home can break the count. The Bona Fide Residence Test is harder, because it requires making Ghana your real home.

Foreign Tax Credit (Form 1116). This only helps if Ghana actually taxes your income. If Ghana's rate is higher than the US rate would be, the credit can offset your US bill. If Ghana taxes you nothing on those income streams, there's nothing to credit and you owe US tax in full. The credit is also the main tool for passive income, since FEIE doesn't touch it.

FBAR and Form 8938. These apply whether or not Ghana taxes you. If your combined foreign account balances top $10,000 at any point in the year, you must file an FBAR (FinCEN 114). The non-willful penalty is up to about $16,500 per report, and the Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that this applies per report, not per account. Willful violations cost far more.

Form 8938 has higher thresholds, and they depend on where you live. For a single filer who qualifies as living abroad, it's $200,000 on the last day of the year or $300,000 at any point. For joint filers it's $400,000 and $600,000. Failing to file starts at a $10,000 penalty.

Advice. In your first year, it's worth paying for both a US CPA who handles expat returns and a Ghana-based tax professional who has worked with foreign-income cases. That usually costs less than fixing a missed filing or a wrong election later.