France Issues Over 300,000 Schengen Visas to Moroccans, Leading EU Countries

According to figures just released by the European Commission, Moroccans are in second place in terms of visa applications, behind Algerians who filed 711,080 applications last year but only 384,302 received a favorable response. Tunisia takes third place just ahead of Egypt.

France is now the leading country in Europe issuing visas to Moroccans. Last year, 362,420 applications were filed in the various consulates throughout the kingdom, 303,477 received a positive response and 56,784 were therefore refused. Spain then granted 158,702 visas to Moroccans out of 200,970 applications (33,520 rejections).

It should be noted that a few days ago, Europe announced an easing of the rules for visa applicants. "The new rules will facilitate tourism, trade and business, while strengthening our security standards to detect people threatening or not entitled to enter the European Union. They will also help improve cooperation with non-EU countries on the return and readmission of irregular migrants," said Dimitris Avramopoulos, a member of the Commission responsible for Home Affairs, Migration and Citizenship.

The official had suggested a visa valid for up to 5 years for "people traveling frequently to European Union countries, whose visa history meets the conditions."