Abstract:
Transnationalism had made it imperative and possible for the transfer of social, political and economic processes by people across borders. However, the extent to which foreigners are transnationalized in a country largely depend on the immigration policies and laws existing in the recipient country. Ghana since independence had had immigration policies which had regulated international migrations to the country. The adoption of the Ghana Immigration Act 2000 (Act 573) has influenced the extent to which foreign nationals can stay or reside in Ghana and work, especially with regards to employment in the oil industry. Therefore, this study focuses on analyzing the effects of Ghana‟s Immigration 2000 (Act 573) on the residence and employment of foreign personnel in the oil industry. The utilized the Transnationalism as the main theory for its analysis. The study is purely qualitative and relies primarily on literature review and interviews for data collection and analyses. Findings from the study reveals that the implementation of the Ghana Immigration Act 2000 (Act 573) has both positive and negative effects on the employment of foreign nationals in the oil industry. In terms of positive effect, the Act facilitates improvement in residence and work permits for expatriates through Quota System, to attract investors into the oil industry whilst the negative effect was revealed in how securing and sometimes renewal of work permits for foreign nationals take too much time. The study also reveals that the Ghana Immigration Service faces some challenges in the effective implementation of immigration policies with particular refence to of the Ghana Immigration Act 2000 (Act 573). Paramount among these challenges include conflict between the implementation of ACT 573 and the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Person, Goods & Services, ignorance of Act 573 and insufficient Logistics and financial constraints of the GIS. Following from the findings, the study concludes that, the implementation of the Ghana Immigration Act 2000 (Act 573) has significant effect on the residence and employment and of foreign nationals in the oil industry in Ghana. Towards this end, the study recommends that training of officers of the GIS is imperative if the right performance and productivity is envisioned. There should be a standard of training for officials at each level to ensure that officers become well engrossed with the knowledge in dealing with each legality and each situation. The GIS should have officials in all the districts in the country to enhance proper monitoring of foreign nationals who carryout economic activities.
