Question 8533 — embassies and consulates

Summary

Mr. Karim Ben Cheikh draws the attention of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs to the human resources situation in French consulates, which directly affects the issuance of visas in many posts. The difficulties observed last year during the summer campaign for student visa applications, as in Senegal, are being repeated this year, since the ministry has not granted consulates the means sufficient to meet the high demand during the summer period, which sees the usual applications for short-stay visas for tourist and family reasons added to student visa applications. Due to a lack of sufficient resources, some consular services are considering completely closing short-stay visa application counters during the summer months, which will automatically increase appointment times. and issuing visas. This situation is felt all the more harshly within consulates because it was predictable and therefore avoidable. Consular services are also largely overwhelmed in Tunis, Istanbul, Abidjan and Dakar. The MP notes that these temporary difficulties come on top of the structural difficulties already highlighted on the occasion of his special report on the External Action budgetary mission of the state. The non-replacement of international volunteers previously assigned to visa services, the elimination of certain positions during the COVID-19 pandemic or the implementation of the “France-Visas” software solution are all factors which have contributed to straining an already critical situation. The MP noted in particular that the implementation of France-Visas did not make it possible to reduce processing and processing times. issuance of visas. Far from being an application serving better agent productivity, France-Visas forces them to have a longer entry time of +30%, according to what was indicated during the hearings of the special rapporteur for the State's External Action budgetary mission. The persistent difficulties with appointment times and obtaining visas are all the more incomprehensible given that Madam Minister, previously alerted to insufficient human resources in many consulates, announced, in September 2022, 100 additional positions (FTE) under the 2023 budget, including a fraction devoted to consular affairs. The issue of visas, despite the reassuring announcements made by the Government, acts as a slow poison in relations between France and the populations of countries to which we are linked by ties. multiple human, cultural, economic and political. It exposes on a daily basis teams already on the verge of burnout according to several testimonies as well as heads of consular or diplomatic posts who are constantly asked to explain locally the lack of availability of appointments and the inability of their services to absorb the demand. The obstacle course of visa applicants, including many relatives and families of French compatriots, also causes lasting damage to the image of France and fuels anti-French discourse. The MP asks what concrete measures the Minister has planned to sustainably provide the consulates with human operating resources and to cope with the additional demand during the summer period, foreseeable and announced by the posts, knowing that a simple reorganization "with constant staff" cannot bring a credible or sustainable solution. He also asks him what immediate reinforcements are planned to deal with the urgent situation in many consulates.

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