Moroccan singer Manal addresses France's visa refusal

In a now-deleted video, Moroccan singer Manal Benchlikha expressed her despair and disappointment after France refused her and her manager (husband) their visa application.

The singer has been going to the European country regularly for the past couple of years, documenting her travels on Instagram and sharing her performances at times.

Yesterday, she shared on her Instagram story a video where she tagged the French embassy of morocco, saying that she is shocked, “We applied for a visa last week, and we were sure that we would get it!”

Benchlikha stated that she and her husband had always acquired their visas, but this time they received an official document explaining that the refusal was due to the couple’s inability to submit documents demonstrating sufficient assets for the period of their travel.

The couple also failed to clarify how they plan to return to their home country, according to the paper.

“It meant that we do not have money! That we don’t have enough to get back to our home!” said Benchlikha.

The document that she received was titled ‘Warning’, which the artist found to be offensive.

She went on to say that the deceptive refusal reason is far from accurate, implying that she does have enough money to spend throughout her vacation and to return to Morocco.

“This is the last time that we are going to apply for a visa for France, we will apply for Belgium or Switzerland, or Spain, but not France,” explained the singer.

In December, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said during a visit to Morocco that her government authorized the unimpeded resumption of consular services to Morocco, signaling the end of what has been dubbed the ‘Visa crisis,’ which saw French visas granted to Moroccans slashed in half.

Yet, it doesn’t seem to be the case after the example of Benchlikha and many others who addressed the same matter on social media.