The Moroccan National Federation of Consumer Rights (FMDC) has sent a letter to the French Embassy in Rabat, urging the diplomatic office to appeal to French consulates in order to reimburse all applicants whose visa applications have been rejected.
“The restrictions on the granting of this document were imposed by the French government without having informed the consumer applying for a visa of the new conditions of issue”, the federation pointed out in a letter, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com.
According to the letter sent to the French Embassy, the intermediary company between the consulate and the applicants does not have the power to hold the personal data of the applicants.
In this regard, the President of the FMDC, Bouazza Kherrati, requests the intervention of Hélène Le Gal “to the various French consulates in Morocco, inviting them to reimburse the cost of visas not issued (services not rendered)”, as reported by Siaeb.
According to MoroccoLatestNews, the same NGO added that “the intermediary company between the Consulate and the consumer is not authorized to hold the personal data of the latter (law 08-09 relating to the protection of personal data).”
The same source shows that regarding the stages of visa applications and where the applicant does not have the legal right not to accept the terms and conditions of the intermediary; if not, he is not eligible to advance in his procedure, Kherrati considers him unhappy.
“His intermediaries put a knife to your throat. You do not have the right to refuse or accept. It is not the same for a free intermediate site which exploits your data because you pay nothing. This is a paid service, so why ask consumers for their data and use it additionally? The reason why we felt that the 08-09 law is not respected in this visa application process”, the activist went on to explain.
SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that the number of visas issued to Moroccans in 2021 was 69,408, an increase from the 98,627 recorded in 2020.
Additionally, SchengenVisaInfo.com previously reported that France has decided to tighten restrictions on the visa issuance process for Moroccan nationals. Such a decision means that France will grant fewer visas than before to Moroccan citizens.
According to data provided by the Directorate General for Foreigners in France (DGEF), a total of 270,925 first residence permits were issued in France last year. In addition, figures from the DGEF show that compared to 2020, the issuance of first residence permits increased by 21.4% in 2021.
