Rabat – Moroccan singer Manal Benchlikha and her husband have obtained their visas to France after an intervention by the Ministry of Culture, she announced on Instagram.
“I thank the ministry of culture for their intervention,” Benchlikha said on an Instagram story. “Thanks to them, the problem has been resolved, and we have received our visas.”
She continued to detail that there was an “error” in the file, adding: “In any case, we have received excuses from the embassy.”
Benchlikha closed her statement by wishing that the problems in the visa process will be solved and that all Moroccan citizens applying for a visa to access the Schengen zone will be able to get it.
Despite the return of “normal consular relations” between Morocco and France, there has yet to be a noticeable improvement to the visa process for Moroccans.
Benchlikha posted an Instagram story on Tuesday venting her frustration over being rejected for a France visa.
The embassy had justified the refusal by invoking the artist’s alleged lack of sufficient finances to fund her stay in France. But Benchlikha shot back by noting that she was not new to applying for and obtaining visas to travel to France, Spain, or other European countries.
France limited the number of visas issued to Moroccans and other Maghreb countries in 2021, accusing Rabat of refusing to repatriate Moroccan citizens that lived in France illegally.
The decision caused a wave of frustration and outrage among Moroccans, many of whom already had a difficult time obtaining a visa to the European country.
It also sparked a long period of diplomatic tensions between Rabat and Paris, although the two countries now seem keen on putting the tensions behind.
France’s Foreign Affairs Minister visited Morocco late last year to end the diplomatic row, and reports suggest that President Emmanuel Macron is set to travel to the North African country soon in the coming weeks.
