Moroccans who want to travel to the Netherlands or to other Schengen countries complain about the long waiting times for an appointment Vfs global. Another problem is that fraudsters resell slots for appointments for a lot of money, writes the NOS in an article.
Make an appointment for one Schengen visa application can take months because there are almost no appointments to book. due to the high demand, fraudsters see an opportunity and buy up available appointments, only to resell them illegally for a lot of money. An appointment for a visa application with VFS Global, the external service provider with which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs works, is free. On the black market, prices of up to € 200 are asked for an available appointment. They even advertise it on social media.
Measures to combat fraud
The problem is known to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Measures have been taken to combat fraud, such as appointments by name, but that does not seem to have much effect in practice.
It is not possible to make an appointment at VFS Global
Moroccan families who want to visit their children or grandchildren are now suffering. It has not been possible to make an appointment at VFS Global for months. Complaining to the Dutch embassy in Morocco is also of no use, they refer you to VFS Global. This external service provider is active in 144 countries and arranges the appointment system for visa applications for 66 countries. Since 2015, the Dutch embassy in Morocco has also been using their services.
Hoekstra: Not VFS Global's fault
The same sounds from Morocco also come from Suriname, Thailand and other countries with many travelers requiring a visa who want to travel to the Netherlands. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wopke Hoekstra, answered the written questions (June 28) posed by Member of Parliament Piri (PvdA) in a letter to parliament.
The minister says that VFS Global is not to blame for the long waiting times, but it is a problem with the processing capacity of visa applications and the decision to accept a fixed number of visa applications in some countries. The aim of the minister is to have the Schengen visa in order by the end of this year. Priority will be given to countries where this leads to particular bottlenecks.
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