Rabat – Morocco positioned itself as the top source country for French visa applications last year, according to data from Schengen Visa Statistics.
Schengen Visa Info shared the latest data with Morocco World News (MWN), noting that Morocco was France’s number one source of visa applications in 2023, with 310,057 applications filed.
Algeria is second on the list with 279,005, China is third with 271,111, India comes fourth with 176,237, and Saudi Arabia ranks fifth with 145,096.
The visa approval rate was estimated at 81.26%, the recent data said.
Behar Sadiky, a global travel and tourism expert from Schengen Visa Info told MWN that the top two sources of applications for France were Morocco and Algeria, which have remained steady in the past years.
“Though the number recorded is still lower than before the pandemic, in particular for Algeria, it is still in line with the overall drop in Schengen visa applications worldwide,” he added.
Schengen Visa Info further emphasized that Moroccans’ visa applications to France increased by 92.49$ in 2023, data from 2022 said. This increase was from 161,047 to 310,057 applications.
“With 105,002 approvals amounting to a 65.19% approval rate,” the data added, noting that the North African country also ranked first with most applications in Spain 189,126 of which 123,270 have approved, or 65.18%.
The data came amid growing concerns as many Moroccans have voiced anger over what they perceive as the unjustified rejection of their visa applications to France in the past few weeks.
France decided to slash the number of visas granted to Moroccan applicants by 50% in 2021.
In December 2022, France announced that it has normalized consular services with Morocco, but despite this, Moroccans have continued to express concerns over unjustified visa rejections and delayed appointments.
Recently, however, France and Morocco have consistently renewed their determination to mend diplomatic relations.
French officials have made frequent visits to Morocco, reiterating Paris’ commitment to strengthening diplomatic ties at all levels.
The ongoing reconciliation raises the question of whether improved diplomatic ties will also translate to a resolution of the consular crisis.
