Around 40 Turkish students have so far filed appeals with the Lazio Regional Administrative Tribunal (TAR) in Rome over visa rejections.
In their appeals, students said that the rejection decisions were based on unfair and baseless reasoning, requiring TAR to rule in their favour, Schengen.News reports.
As Hürriyet Daily News explains, around ten of the students have secured a favourable ruling. On the other hand, the appeal of one student was dismissed over concerns that they might present a high risk of seeking asylum.
In its ruling, TAR mandated that some of the students have their visas approved without undergoing the interview process.
As for some others, the court ordered that their visa applications be reassessed within a period of five days while stressing that they could not be rejected again for the same reasons.
In addition to the above-mentioned, the court also said that visa refusals should be made based on concrete evidence rather than on mere suspicion, suggesting that Turkish students should be treated fairly.
Nearly 1,000 of Turkish Students Were Unable to Enrol in Italian Universities Due to Lack of Visas
A large number of Turkish students have secured admission to Italian universities. However, almost 1,000 of them were not able to enrol due to the lack of a visa.
The visa issues for Turkish students have been prevailing since last year. Fed up with the delays and unreasonable denials, Turkish students protested outside the Italian Consulate in Istanbul in November of last year.
They said that the long processing times and denials are leaving them in limbo and threatening their academic goals, and at the same time, required the authorities to take measures on the matter as soon as possible.
Not long after these complaints, the Italian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Antonio Tajani, said that the authorities are working to accelerate the process.
However, taking into account the dissatisfaction that the Turkish students have continued to show, it is still not clear whether all the necessary measures have been taken.
Iranian & Afghan Students Have Also Complained Over Visa Delays
Turkish students are not the only ones who have complained about delays in visas. Iranian and Afghan students have also faced difficulties when wanting to secure a visa for the purpose of pursuing their studies in Italy.
A group of around 150 Afghan students said in December of last year that they had been waiting for months to be contracted by the Italian embassy for a visa appointment. On the other hand, the Italian embassy responded by saying that there were no available appointments.
Iranian students also voiced their concerns about the long waiting times for an appointment. They said that the delay is affecting their mental and financial well-being and putting their education goals at risk.