French embassy raises visa interviews to 1,500

French embassy in Algiers will raise the number of interviews for Schengen visa applications to 1,500 from 1,100 following a 30-day-strike, Echorouk has learnt.

Workers at the embassy and French consulates stopped their strike. They had asked for pay raise, better working conditions and promoting for breast-feeding women. Yet, their demands were rejected, according to sources at the embassy.

Although the strike was unlimited, the embassy handled 10,000 applications since the strike started.

The strike caused anger among Algerian applicants for visa as France constitutes a transit point to European countries.

Earlier, French general consulate said on its website the union notified the embassy about the strike and started holding talks with workers’ representatives to study their demands.

It added that visa interviews were postponed and apologized for inconvenience caused by the strike.