Technical Glitch Disrupts Visa Applications for Moroccans Seeking French Travel

According to Hespress, visa applicants for France have indicated in Facebook groups that "the official website of the intermediary company has suddenly stopped working". This technical breakdown comes after TLSContact implemented the video call functionality to verify the identity of appointment applicants in order to "circumvent the activities of intermediaries".

"The situation was predictable," say consumer protection associations. Abdelkrim Chafii, vice-president of the Moroccan Association of Consumers, calls on the intermediary company "to assume responsibility for this deliberate technical breakdown," explaining that "what is happening now is a clear attempt to filter the citizens authorized to move on to the video call stage; a well-known method of intermediary companies to reduce the pressure on them and on the consulates".

The official considers "unacceptable these manipulations of consumer rights after everyone welcomed the video call initiative," urging TLSContact to "solve the problem and allow all citizens to have the opportunity to get an appointment". Chafii does not rule out that "the intermediaries may be partly responsible for this unjustified technical breakdown," adding that