Moroccan singer denied visa to France, despite new policy
Despite a number of encouraging moves from France, including a recent visit of one of its ministers who spoke with Nasser Bourita in Rabat, the visa restrictions imposed by France on all Moroccans persists.
The latest victim of this, is the famous Moroccan singer Manal Benchlikha who has just discovered her application to visit France was rejected, causing her to vent her frustration on social media.
The singer published this January 10 in an Instagram story her dismay and her incomprehension after being refused a visa, reports Le360. The young woman, whose fame has gone beyond the borders of Morocco and who also performed on the stage of the closing ceremony of the World Cup in Qatar, a few minutes from the final between France and Argentina, was refused his visa for not having sufficient resources to support herself in France, authorities there claim.
“I am shocked. I laugh in dismay. We submitted a visa application for France last week and we received an SMS saying that our passports were available. So we went to find them. We were sure to have our visa because the last visa we had from Spain was for two years and we were always used to having our visas. We are solvent, our papers are in order. We have no reason not to have a French visa”, explains the young woman in a video.
She continues the account of her misadventure: “They gave us a piece of paper on which it is written: refusal. The reason is that we have not provided proof that we have sufficient means of subsistence for the duration of the planned stay or means for returning to the country of origin or residence.
“So, basically, we can’t afford to go to France. I just want to understand what is going on, please, because this has nothing to do with reality. I want to understand why visas are always refused (…)”, she asks.
And to conclude: “This is the last time we will apply for a visa for France. We will apply either for Belgium, Switzerland, Spain or any other country. But not France” she claims.
The story is likely to become a focus of attention between Moroccan officials and Emmanuel Macron who is due, in January, to visit the Moroccan king. Morocco is at breaking point with its relations with France and the fact that even its stars cannot even visit France will be taken very badly by its officials who are weary of promises made by Macron which the Rabat elite have dubbed an unreliable partner.
