Easing Of Procedures For Schengen Visa Renewal By French Consulates In Algeria

French Consulates in Algeria have approved a series of salutary measures to enable the Algerian Schengen Visa holders whose visas expired, to have them renewed without going through the classic procedure for an appointment via the site – “TLS Contact”, with on focus the scrapping of some cumbersome documents and other facilitation procedures.

The new facilitation process for those seeking visa renewals is to be carried out without a prior appointment at the Consulate premises as previously and through a personal space on the same site which can be accessed by e-mail and its password, French Consulate sources told “Echorouk”.

Regarding the requested documents, the same sources indicated that the applicant must first copy the last Schengen visa issued by the French Consulate and which expired, stressing the latter must be presented in the new registration online process ultimately leading to the visa renewal within a very short time-frame.

In this line, and as recall, the European Commission of late released a report under the heading “A smarter visa policy for economic growth”, in which it proposed to ease procedures for issuing visas for the Schengen area. 

Thus, the time limit for processing and issuing a visa application could be reduced from 15 to 10 days as the report envisages a simplification of the list of supporting documents, apparently considered too cumbersome by Schengen visa-seeking applicants.

The enlargement of Consular cooperation among the countries of the Schengen area is also mentioned. The committee also proposes a further relaxation of the rules for travelers considered regular ones through the creation of a “roaming visa”.

However, these facilitation measures must be endorsed by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament.