Algerian Diaspora to Benefit From Facilities for Obtaining Biometric Passports

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Algerian community abroad, Ahmed Attaf, instructed the directors of Algerian consulates abroad to take care of the concerns of the community’s MPs and listen to their demands, stressing the necessity of granting facilities to Algerian diaspora abroad, especially concerning granting biometric passports and visas to foreigners with mixed marriages.

In his first official meeting with MPs of the Algerian diaspora abroad, the Minister also confirmed the importance of providing mobile offices to facilitate their voting and to ensure that consular services reach them easily and conveniently.

Attaf also pointed out the need to improve and develop consular services to better meet the community’s needs, including facilitating administrative procedures and providing the necessary support to Algerian expatriates, according to what parliamentary sources who attended the meeting reported to Echorouk.

“These steps come within the framework of strengthening communication between the government and the Algerian diaspora abroad, and providing them with the necessary support in all fields, which contributes to strengthening national ties and the feeling of belonging to the homeland”, Ahmed Attaf added.

During the meeting, which lasted more than four hours with MPs representing the Algeria diaspora at the Ministry’s building, the Minister also responded to several concerns, including the issue of facilitating the issuance of biometric passports. In this context, he revealed that measures will be taken soon to enable Algerians residing abroad to obtain an electronic passport without the hassle of travelling to consulate headquarters.

Among the files that the minister promised to take care of is the issue of facilitating the granting of visas to foreigners of mixed marriages, especially some nationalities whose owners find obstacles to obtaining visas.

Regarding Algerians residing illegally abroad, the Minister reiterated his emphasis that the Algerian state and the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, will not abandon their children. In this context, the government has previously taken measures to grant facilities to these people for them to obtain Algerian passports to prove their identity.

Furthermore, Ahmed Attaf promised representatives of the Algerian community abroad to devote periodic meetings to listen to their concerns in the future, in addition to directing instructions to consular directors and officials to respond to their concerns and demands.

Regarding the issue of the upcoming presidential elections, several MPs raised their concerns regarding the distance of the voting offices to the residences of the Algerian community abroad, as the minister confirmed in this regard that the state will work to allocate mobile offices for voting, especially in areas where the consulate headquarters are far from the residences of some members of the Algerian community.