In Morocco, a relatively new industry of unauthorized brokers has taken over managing the appointments required for submitting Schengen visa applications. This has made travelling to Europe increasingly difficult for Morrocans, despite pandemic-related travel restrictions being lifted in 2022.  

"It is a catastrophe, visa appointments are sold for 11,000 [Moroccan] dirhams (€1,000, $1,088)," the Moroccan actress Dounia Boutazout stated in an Instagram story in March. The popular artist had tried to apply for a Schengen visa ahead of her theater group's Europe tour, but was unable to book an appointment with an authorized visa application center. 

Her alternative would have been contacting one of the unauthorized online brokers in Morocco that sell visa appointment slots at unregulated rates. These businesses use software bots automated to reserve all free appointments the instant authorized visa centers make them available online.

Thriving on a legal loophole

It is neither forbidden to grab a huge number of appointments, nor to sell these. The growing industry of unauthorized dealers has been thriving in this legal loophole, as they do not offer consulary services, but operate as intermediaries and sell appointments to applicants for up to ten times the original price.

Most European consulates outsourced the handling of visa appointments to designated service centers years ago. They argue that this saves time in processing visa requests, as authorized centers will only forward applications that are complete and meet the requirements for a Schengen visa. 

In Morocco, TLScontact is the main authorized provider that allocates appointments for German and French consulates. The Spanish consulate works with BLS International, and the Dutch and Italian consulates contract VFS Global. 

These authorized third-party service providers charge service fees for booking appointments. The fees increase according to the length of the stay abroad, and start at about €80 for an appointment to request a short-term tourist visa.

'Little interest in solving this'

Boutazout was not the only one searching for free appointments through authorized service providers for weeks without success. 

Adil Tchikitou, director of the Moroccan League for the Defense of Human Rights (LMDDH) is concerned. "Most embassies are aware that appointments are brokered, but have demonstrated little interest in solving this in over a year," he told DW. His and other Moroccan human rights associations have complained to European officials about what he calls the "movement deprivation of Moroccans."

However, while Tchikitou said that "no significant reforms have yet been initiated," embassies have begun to respond to an increase of complaints by citizens. 

Countermeasures remain vague

A spokesperson for the Dutch Foreign Ministry told DW that the ministry had introduced steps to counter unauthorized brokers. These include a "digital waiting list, which ensures that facilitators no longer have the possibility to sell or resell appointments." 

Earlier this month, the Spanish contractor BLS International introduced a photo-based self-verification system for applicants. This outsmarts bots attempting to reserve appointments, as each appointment is linked to an indiviudal photo that can be compared with the passport photo.

Also, after warning of "intermediaries," and citing "manipulations in the appointments," the Italian Consulate General in Casablanca recently ended its outsourcing contract with TLScontract and started to work with a subsidiary of VFS Global.

The German Foreign Ministry also stated that it was tackling the issue, but did not specify concrete steps. "New appointments for Schengen visas in Rabat are released regularly, but are fully booked within a very short time," a spokesperson of the German Foreign Ministry said, adding that the ministry was "taking new measures to prevent those visa brokers from blocking the appointments and to improve the situation." 
 
For the European tour of the Moroccan actress Dounia Boutazout, these steps and promises will be of no effect. After refusing to pay the unauthorized broker's inflated booking fee, she was unable to obtain a visa appointment. As a result, her theater tour was cancelled, and she has had to shoulder the financial loss herself. 

DW reached out to TLScontact and asked for comment on their pricing and allocation handling, but did not receive a reply by the time of the publication.

Edited by: Maren Sass