The French Embassy in Morocco said it will not refund visa-related expenses to applicants, including those whose applications have been refused, following an inquiry letter from the national federation of consumer rights.
This clarification came in the form of a written letter signed and ratified by former French ambassador Helene Le Gal on September 19, 2022, and addressed to the federation’s president Bouazza El Kharrati, in which she explained the reasons for refusing to reimburse Moroccan applicants’ fees.
The letter said laws imposed on France and all Schengen area countries state that “visa duties are not returned in the event of an application rejection.”
Le Gal went on to explain that the fees collected when submitting a visa application are divided into service fees, which in the case of France are equivalent to the TLS service provider, for notification, reception, and collection tasks, on the one hand, and visa fees on the other.
“The European Community visa code determines the level of visa fees for all Schengen area member states, including France; payment of this fee is required for the application to be accepted and processed,” she added.
“The community regulations followed by France and other Schengen countries state that this visa fee is non-refundable in the event that the application is rejected,” she said in the letter, noting that applicants are also made fully aware of this when they complete submitting their applications.
“French consular services in Morocco processed nearly 150,000 visa applications between January and June 2022, considering it a “large number,” said the same source.
The Former ambassador also denied spreading news about the rejection rates, describing them as “imaginary,” according to the same source.
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