France visas: Paris aims to return to 250 000 visas a year for Algerians

French ambassador to Algeria Stéphane Romatet announced the plan in an interview with Algerian media outlet TSA on 15 July 2026. Consular staffing levels will be fully restored this summer to clear backlogs in appointment scheduling.

What the ambassador announced

Returning to Algiers in May 2026 after nearly two years of strained relations between Paris and Algiers, Stéphane Romatet outlined France’s visa roadmap. Before the diplomatic rift, France issued around 250 000 visas yearly to Algerian citizens. That volume dropped sharply during the crisis, and the stated goal is to rebuild those figures.

The impetus is not regulatory changes but personnel: French consular services in Algeria operated understaffed throughout the crisis, which slowed processing and increased wait times for appointments. The ambassador pledged that “by this summer, all the staff required to perform our mission in Algeria” will be in place, and that working with the contractor managing document collection will restore normal scheduling pace.

The target had already been flagged the day before: in his 14 July speech, delivered at the French residence in Algiers, the ambassador cited as a priority “improving our indispensable migration cooperation to better organise mobility, human exchanges between our two countries, visas and readmissions.”

Where volumes now stand: official 2025 figures

Consolidated statistics released on 30 June 2026 by the Direction générale des étrangers en France (Ministry of the Interior) quantify the drop-off. In 2025 Algerian nationals received 185 871 short-stay visas and 18 371 long-stay visas, totalling just over 204 000 visas—about 18 % lower than the pre-crisis figure highlighted by the ambassador.

Neighbouring Morocco underscores the divergence: in the same year Morocco obtained 267 559 short-stay visas, while overall France issued 3 million visas, up 3.5 %. The Algerian decline therefore ran counter to broader trends.

Analysis of the 2025 data also shows that 48.7 % of long-stay visas granted to Algerians went to students or trainees, ahead of family reunification at 28.8 %. Students are quickest to feel the squeeze when consular capacity contracts—and stand to gain fastest when normal service resumes.

Two years of frost, thaw under way since spring

Since summer 2024 the Franco-Algerian relationship has endured its longest diplomatic deep-freeze in decades: suspended cooperation, recalled ambassadors and slashed visa issuance. A thaw is now under way: Stéphane Romatet returned to Algiers in spring 2026 to reopen cooperation on security, justice, migration and economic ties.

The visa announcement forms part of that thaw. It has nonetheless triggered a sharp political debate in France, with several officials questioning whether such volumes should be restored. At present the 250 000-visa target remains a political pledge; no legislation or regulation sets quotas in either direction, and consulates continue to decide each application individually.

Key steps for applicants in Algeria

Procedures themselves remain unchanged. According to the official portal France-Visas: • Applications must be filed online via France-Visas and then submitted at one of the Capago centres in Algiers, Oran, Annaba or Constantine, depending on residency. • General consulates in Algiers, Annaba and Oran retain final decision-making. • Typical appointment wait times are around one month; longer lines are expected June–November.

• Processing fees are payable in dinars and are non-refundable even if the application is refused; plus a non-recoverable €29 service fee per application charged by Capago.

If you plan to travel this autumn, don’t count on an immediate easing of pressure: staff reinforcements will arrive during the peak summer period. Submit at least one month before departure—the minimum recommended by France-Visas for short stays—and keep checking Capago slots, which should open up gradually as staffing improves.

The substance of your application remains unchanged: documentary evidence, financial means and purpose of stay are reviewed as before. Capacity is what must recover first—easier appointments now, then a rise in overall issued visas.