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Rabat – Italy is set to open a new office to process visa applications from Moroccan nationals in the capital Rabat in February 2024.
The new office will be managed by VFS Global, a visa-processing service provider, according to a report from SchengenVisaInfo.com.
The report explains that the Embassy of Italy in Rabat and VFS Global have already signed on February 16 an agreement in preparation for the opening of the new office.
Italy’s Ambassador to Morocco Titanilla Toth, and VFS Global’s Regional Head-North Africa Johan Virassamynaïck, signed the agreement.
As of October, Italy manages five diplomatic representative offices in Morocco, including the embassy and consulates in Rabat, the consulate in Agadir, the consulate in Fes, the consulate general and promotion center in Casablanca, and a consulate in Marrakech.
The report unveils that interest in Italian visas in Morocco has spiked in recent years. Data from SchengenVisaInfo shows that Italian embassies and visa centers received over 10,500 visa applications from Moroccan nationals last year alone.
Italian diplomatic representative offices in Morocco approved over 7,700 applications, while more than 2,500 were rejected.
In addition to Italy, there has been a growing interest in Schengen visas in Morocco last year, the report says. Morocco has become the fourth biggest market in terms of Schengen Visa applications.
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Moroccan nationals filed over 420,000 Schengen visa applications, SchengenVisaInfo.com indicates. Schengen visa rejection rate in Morocco has also surged.
In 2022, 30% of Schengen visa requests from Moroccans were rejected, with France and Spain accounting for the largest numbers of rejected visas.
The total number of visa applications in 2022 reached over 7.5 million, a 158.7% increase compared to 2021.
The overall rejection rate for Schengen visa applications in 2022 stood at 17.9%. Morocco was among the top countries with the highest Schengen visa rejection rates.
