Moroccans Are the Largest Recipients of French Visas

Rabat – Moroccans top the list of the 15 nationalities that received the most French visas in 2021 and 2020, recording a year-over-year decrease of 29.6% between 2020 and 2021.

The number of Moroccan recipients of French visas stood at 69,408 in 2021, down from 98,627 in 2020, according to data from the French interior ministry.

The French interior ministry’s data further specifies that Algerians were the second-largest recipients of French visas in 2020. French visas issued for Algerians stood at 63,649, a 13.1% decrease from the 73,276 recorded in 2020.

Despite what seems to be a rising hostility towards immigrants, the number of visas issued for foreigners on French soil increased by 2.9%, marking an increase from 712,317 in 2020 to 733,069 last year.

The remarkable overall increase is due to the increasing number of visas issued for Sudanese, with a staggering year-to-year increase of 328.1%, rising from 14,082 in 2020 to 60,292 in 2021.

The rising number of Sudanese migrants is likely caused by the rising political instability. While the country was in the middle of a democratic transition, a military junta staged a coup.

Even though the president was later reinstated following domestic and international pressure, the move caused an estimated 2.2 million people to flee the country, according to data from World Vision, a non-profit.

The increase in the number of French visas is also offset by the 202.8% rise in the number of visas issued for marginalized minorities from Kuwait, reaching 14,052 in 2021. The bulk of the “stateless Arabs” rushing to France from Kuwait, as Al Jazeera reported, consist of immigrants fleeing the oil-rich country following the nationwide protests over unresolved citizenship status and the ensuing arrests.

Visa issuance for Lebanese also peaked over the same period, rising at a year-to-year rate of 61.6%, from 22,481 in 2020 to 36,321 in 2021, driven by the influx of immigrants fleeing political instability and the ensuing economic calamity.

While the largest increase happens to be for visas issued on humanitarian grounds, progressing at a 67% year-to-year rise, the number of humanitarian visas stands at 14,035, nowhere near the 33,970 issued on economic grounds for employees, scientists, and artists among others.

Amid the runoff to the upcoming French presidential elections, immigration-hostile rhetoric will definitely dominate far-right campaign speeches bent on overlooking the fact that France was and remains selective in its immigration policies favoring skilled and highly educated migrants to feed and meet the needs of its economy.