TLScontact, the visa services company that handles Schengen visa applications for France in Morocco, has automated its process throughout the main cities in the North African country.
TLScontact has expanded its automated visa appointment allocation system to Fez, Oujda, Tangier in February, to later also include the centre in Casablanca to this system, Schengen.News reports.
Instead of opening slots for online reservation, appointments are now automatically and randomly assigned to applicants registered on the site.
These measures have been implemented in order to avoid fraudulent activities, with TLScontact revealing that intermediaries have been using technological methods to seize appointment slots. Later, as these slots became available, they would be resold at higher prices.
TLScontact to Offer Safer & More Efficient Visa Services
Moroccan applicants will now be able to file their Schengen visas more easily, without being subjected to fraudulent activities, as happened until the new measures were rolled out.
Thanks to TLScontact, the confirmation of the appointments can be done only after the payment of service fees, without which the slot can be taken by another applicant.
The initiative mainly targets first-time applicants, who can easily fall victim to these scams, as happens due to a lack of experience with the Schengen visa application process.
According to statistics published by SchengenVisaInfoFrance has received visa applications from three consulates in Morocco – Casablanca, Oran and Rabat, with the latter accounting for most applications.
In total, the consulate in Rabat received 164,998 visa applications, compared to the one in Casablanca that had 89,844 applications and the Oran consulate with 73,215 visa requests.
New Visa System Expanded to 5 Moroccan Cities
The pilot programme was initially operated in Rabat, the capital city of Morocco, and the results were quite impressive, as Morocco World News reports. After Rabat, services were expanded in Fez, Oujda, and Tangier in February, followed by Casablanca in March.
Bot activity, which often captures appointment slots, was reduced by 48 per cent in Rabat for a period of four weeks. A decrease of 12 per cent was evident from the first week of implementation of the new system.
From the first day of the new changes being introduced, Moroccans have been able to make a total of 15,000 appointments that have been securely allocated in Rabat.
TLScontact’s new changes were initially implemented in Rabat, and then in Fez, Oujda, and Tangier in February, followed by Casablanca in March.