The cases of international students complaining over extensive waiting periods for their study visas to Italy have been on the rise in recent years. Previously, Schengen.News reported that a group of Iranian students had waited for over one year for a visa appointment.
However, numerous complaints have not prompted the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also known as Farnesina, to address these issues publicly. Instead, the Ministry has remained silent throughout many of the reported scandals, Schengen.News reports.
As Domani reports, the discretionary attitudes of Italian embassies abroad remain present and the authorities receive thousands of appeals, while the Ministry does not address or acknowledge the situation.
Government Ignores MP’s Concerns Over Controversial Visa Practices
On November 6, 2024, Deputy Rachele Scarpa directed a letter to the government, asking the Vice President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, Antoni Tajani, whether he knew about what was going on in the Italian embassies, indicating the problematic practices at these institutions.
In the same letter, Deuty Scarpa asked the authorities “what are the reasons and decisions of the heads of the administrations that have determined and determined systematic delays, failure to exercise the substitutive power and poor service to the detriment of the directly interested parties,” as was read in the parliamentary act.
Deputy Scarpa would not be the only member of the parliament to direct these questions to the Foreign Ministry as the former Speaker of the Chamber, Laura Boldrini had asked the same questions a few weeks ago.
Maria Teresa Bellucci, representing the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, did not address these inquires yet to this day. However, she said that the Ministry will continue to guarantee efficiency and transparency in the visa-issuing system.
Pakistani Student Fails to Secure a Student Visa Appointments for Nearly 3 Years
Many foreign students often make public posts about their struggle to secure appointments for their visas. Such is the case of Ahmed (not his real name), who shared his story with our editorial team.
Ahmed is a Pakistani student who has been accepted by the Italian Institute for his master’s degree.
Now the main issue is that for the past two years, I have been trying to secure a student visa appointment and unfortunately not succeeded once and now this is going to be my third year.
Ahmed says there are thousands of students like him, waiting for an appointment despite them contacting official offices in recent years.
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