Algerians With Dual Citizenship Should Obtain Visas To Visit Homeland

Border police prevented a large number of Algerian expatriates with dual citizenship from entering the national territory, after application of the new procedures that obliged them to obtain visas following an approval from the Algerian embassies abroad for each parson who is carrying a foreign passport, as authorities canceled the entry through showing the national identity card.

Echorouk sources said that the border police services at airports, ports and border posts launch the application of the new procedures, following the instructions of the Interior and local groups Ministry, which ordered the end to work with the old procedures, which were enjoyed by the people with dual citizenship and who have Foreign bio-metric passports, and who had the right to access to the national territory only by showing a document the proves their Algerian nationality, and this is after the extension of their deadlines to stay in Algeria with the national identification card without getting a visa, twice this year for the first time in the month of February, and the second in the month of June, before the new procedure was officially launched in the current November and December.

Same sources added that the Algerians with dual nationality are forced to obtain a visa from the Algerian embassy in the countries in which they live in order to enter homeland, and that the border police officers are obliged to verify the passports of every Algerian who has another citizenship.

“This procedure falls within the pursuit of Algeria to tighten security procedures for the reception of citizens in the border crossings, ports and airports, especially after the warning message that the Algerian authorities received from Interpol’s General Secretariat, which recommends the promotion of tightening procedures at checkpoints, particularly to verify the database of Interpol  of the stolen and lost documents, which contain about 56 million documents from 172 countries”.

Obliging Algerians with dual citizenship to obtain a visa to entry homeland will force about 5 million naturalized Algerians,according to unofficial figures, which is equivalent to 14.5% of the total population of Algeria, to ask for new visas, as they live in four major countries which are France, Canada, Spain and Germany, noting that the majority of naturalized are living in France, in the first place by virtue of the historical bond between the two countries, namely 3.5 million Algerians have the French citizenship.

In a related context, Echorouk sources said that a large number of Algerian expatriates were prevented from entering the national territory in November and December, and were forced to return to their place of residence abroad after police services told them that the the new measures do not allow them to enter the national territory, and they should either obtain an entry visa from the Algerian embassies, or obtain an Algerian Bio-metric passport, especially after facilitating the procedures for obtaining it.