Algerians Placed Second Worldwide In Number Of French Visas

Algerians ranked second in the world in terms of the number of people who received a visa to enter the French soil during the past year, and the number of visas granted to Algerians was set at 413,976.

According to statistics published by the Directorate General of Foreigners belonging to the French Interior Ministry, the Chinese kept the first place in 2017, obtaining about 849,550 visas, while the Algerians ranked second with 413,976 visas, and the number of visas  secured by Moroccans during the past year reached 323,670 by ranking third in the standings, followed by Russians with 262,543 visas, Indians with 377,155 visas, and Tunisians with 136,663 visas.

The Turks came in seventh place with 134,061 visas, followed by Saudis with 85,100, Egyptians with 58,453 visas, Lebanese with 55,994 and Indonesians with 54,792 visas.

In total, more than 3.4 million visas were registered in France last year, up 11 percent compared to 2016.

In contrast to the recorded hike  in the granting of visas, deportations of foreigners in illegal status increased by 14.6 per cent, from a number of 12,961 in 2016 to 14,859 in the year 2017. 

Furthermore, the number of people who acquired French nationality during the past year was set at 83,674 persons, a drop of 5.7 per cent compared to the previous year.

The process of granting the visas has witnessed of late several  serious lapses under the center TSL Contact and thereby the French Consulate, contracted with another dealer, the Swiss VFS Global center and indicated recently that the latter will launch the process of taking visa-related appointments starting from the 9th of next April.

The relevant center will cover the visa requests from the provinces of Algiers, Bejaia, Blida, Tizi Ouzou, Tipaza, Bordj Bou Arreridj, Bouira, Boumerdes, Ain Defla, Djelfa, Ghardaïa, Ilizi, Laghouat, Medea, Msila, Ouargla and Tamanrasset.