Schengen Visa in Tunisia Why Are Appointments So Hard to Get?

Obtaining a Schengen Visa from Tunisia Remains a Complex and Frustrating Process

Obtaining a Schengen visa from Tunisia remains a challenging and frustrating experience for many applicants, who face prolonged waiting times for appointments, chronic unavailability of application submission slots, and sometimes resort to intermediaries or agencies that charge high fees for additional services.

Difficult Access to Official Appointments

Getting an appointment for a Schengen visa from Tunisia is a significant challenge for many citizens. Official platforms, such as TLScontact for France, Germany, or Belgium, and Almaviva for Italy, often display very limited availability. Time slots fill up in minutes, forcing applicants to connect regularly, sometimes several times a day, to hope to secure an appointment. This situation is exacerbated by the high volume of applications: in 2024, nearly 178,000 applications were registered, with an average rejection rate of over 21%. Rejections or delays not only generate direct financial costs (visa fees, travel, documents, etc.) but also considerable stress for applicants. Thus, the combination of scarce time slots, prolonged delays, and strict administrative procedures contributes to widespread frustration among Tunisian candidates, fueling a sense of complexity and injustice in accessing Schengen visas.

Intermediaries and Paid Services

Faced with the difficulty of obtaining an official appointment, some Tunisians turn to intermediaries or private agencies offering paid services to facilitate access to available time slots. These services may include availability alerts, advance booking, document preparation, or personalized assistance to complete the application. Although these services are not illegal in themselves, they result in additional costs, sometimes high, for applicants, reflecting a genuine parallel market created by the shortage of appointments. This situation benefits from strong demand and the lack of direct availability on official platforms, accentuating the perception of inequality between those who can afford to pay and those who must be content with standard time slots.

Testimonies collected on social networks, in traveler forums, and in several Tunisian media outlets show that resorting to paid services to secure an appointment is becoming increasingly common. Indeed, many Tunisian applicants share their experiences online, on travel forums, Facebook groups, or comment sections of visa agency websites, describing the frustration of never managing to obtain an official appointment. Some explain that they spend several hours a day updating the TLScontact or Almaviva platforms without ever succeeding in securing a date, which causes stress and anxiety, especially when a trip or professional obligation is at stake. Other testimonies mention being forced to use intermediaries to avoid missing important trips, highlighting the sense of injustice for those who cannot afford to pay. This situation also fuels a perception of inequality and a general feeling that the official system indirectly favors those who can afford paid services. Thus, beyond the numbers, the human frustration and difficulty of accessing the official process are very palpable among Tunisian candidates.

Consular Efforts and Partial Improvements

Faced with this situation, consular authorities recognize that the situation of appointments and visa delays remains problematic and are trying to provide solutions. The French Embassy in Tunisia, for example, has indicated that it has increased the number of available time slots and implemented more effective monitoring of applications, which has contributed to reducing the rejection rate of applications in 2025. Additionally, targeted measures have also been introduced for applicants who have already obtained a Schengen visa, in order to simplify the appointment process and alleviate the burden of repetitive applications. However, despite these initiatives, obstacles persist: prolonged waiting times, complex procedures, required documents, and unexpected rejections continue to weigh on candidates. The administrative process remains arduous, with long waiting times, limited availability of appointments, and increasing recourse to paid services, showing that a balance between accessibility, efficiency, and equity is still to be built for Tunisian applicants.