Morocco Considers Visa Requirements for French Visitors Amid Diplomatic Tensions

Many Moroccan senior executives of French companies established in the kingdom, Moroccan parents of French citizens, as well as Moroccan businessmen who wish to go to France for medical or other reasons, are refused French visas without any justification.

This week, the former French Minister of Territorial Equality and Housing, Cécile Duflot, had to call on the French embassy in Morocco, which recently refused to grant a family visa to a Moroccan. Faced with this harsh reality, some are forced to submit their visa applications to other European countries.

This persistent situation has provoked the anger of dozens of Moroccan Internet users who are calling on Morocco to impose visas on French nationals wishing to visit their kingdom, reports Maghreb-Intelligence.

France had decided in late September 2021 to reduce by 50% the granting of visas for Moroccans and Algerians and by 30% for Tunisians, on the grounds that these three countries refuse to issue consular laissez-passer necessary for the return of their nationals expelled from France. A decision that was also justified by the Covid-19 pandemic. Reacting to this decision, Morocco had denounced an "unjustified" measure.