Morocco presses foreign consulates over visa delays, brokers and passport hold ups

Morocco’s foreign ministry said it is continuing to raise concerns with foreign embassies and consulates over the way outsourced visa systems are operating in the kingdom, as complaints persist over long waits, appointment bottlenecks and the retention of applicants’ passports for what lawmakers described as unreasonable periods.

In a written parliamentary reply reported by Hespress, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said Rabat was pressing diplomatic missions that had delegated visa handling to private companies to tighten supervision of digital appointment and file submission channels and to close loopholes exploited by brokers and intermediaries.

Bourita said Morocco’s objective was to ensure that Moroccan applicants’ rights and dignity were not harmed, and that communication with citizens remained respectful, particularly in urgent humanitarian cases such as treatment or study applications tied to strict deadlines.

He stressed that visa policy remained a sovereign prerogative of each state, but said several missions in Morocco had chosen delegated management models under which private contractors receive applications and communicate with applicants before forwarding files to consulates for a final decision. That arrangement, he said, partly explains longer processing periods.

The minister also pointed to the European Commission’s first ever EU Visa Strategy, adopted in January 2026, which outlines a gradual move toward more digital visa procedures, faster decision making and a more efficient process for categories such as students, researchers, skilled professionals and business travellers.

The Commission said the strategy builds on the EU’s earlier visa digitalisation reform, under which a single online visa application platform is due to become operational by 2028, a shift expected to reduce waiting times and allow applicants to keep their passports during much of the process.