A_flyer
16th August 2006, 14:27
Again, it's translated using an automatic translator, so please apologise for english language errors:
Sanctions after a traffic of visas to the French Consulate in Moscow
PARIS (Reuters - August 16, 2006) - Seven agents of the French Consulate in Moscow were sanctioned after an administrative investigation for visas traffic, announces the "Quai d'Orsay" [French Foreign Affairs].
"At the end of an internal investigation led on the initiative of the General Consul, three agents were laid off and four resignations were accepted", declared a spokesman with the press.
He specified that the general Inspection of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs was going "to carry out a further enquiry on the spot".
This announcement follows revelations in the French press. According to these, several sanctioned employees were convinced to have made profitable their functions by selling visas up to twenty times their normal value.
An activity supported by Russian tourist agencies, which would propose up to 1.100 euros to obtain a French visa, officially tarrifed 35 euros.
The French ministry stressed that the business occurred in the context of an important increase in the request for visas delivered with the Russians by France and who are valid for all the countries of Schengen space.
It was delivered 272.000 visas in 2005, that is to say 10% more than in 2004 and twice as much as in 2000, growth that the Consulate personnel cannot manage any more.
The "Quai d'Orsay" ensures that manpower will be reinforced and that a reflexion will be carried out with the other European countries for a "harmonization of the treatment of the files".
Sanctions after a traffic of visas to the French Consulate in Moscow
PARIS (Reuters - August 16, 2006) - Seven agents of the French Consulate in Moscow were sanctioned after an administrative investigation for visas traffic, announces the "Quai d'Orsay" [French Foreign Affairs].
"At the end of an internal investigation led on the initiative of the General Consul, three agents were laid off and four resignations were accepted", declared a spokesman with the press.
He specified that the general Inspection of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs was going "to carry out a further enquiry on the spot".
This announcement follows revelations in the French press. According to these, several sanctioned employees were convinced to have made profitable their functions by selling visas up to twenty times their normal value.
An activity supported by Russian tourist agencies, which would propose up to 1.100 euros to obtain a French visa, officially tarrifed 35 euros.
The French ministry stressed that the business occurred in the context of an important increase in the request for visas delivered with the Russians by France and who are valid for all the countries of Schengen space.
It was delivered 272.000 visas in 2005, that is to say 10% more than in 2004 and twice as much as in 2000, growth that the Consulate personnel cannot manage any more.
The "Quai d'Orsay" ensures that manpower will be reinforced and that a reflexion will be carried out with the other European countries for a "harmonization of the treatment of the files".