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Jean Mboulè, a Cameroonian won a landmark legal case against France after his Schengen visa application was rejected on questionable grounds.
Mboulè's experience has brought renewed attention to long-standing frustrations among African travellers over what many view as discriminatory and opaque visa policies enforced by European countries.
Mboulè, who was born in France, had applied for the visa alongside his wife, a South African citizen, according to a report by CNN.
Though she was unemployed at the time and had no personal income, she received a visa based on Mboulè’s financial documents. His application, however, was rejected.
“The embassy said they refused my application because my documents were fake, and they weren’t sure I would come back to South Africa, where I am a permanent resident," Mboulè said.
The 39-year-old regional executive took legal action in French courts and won, forcing the French embassy in Johannesburg to grant his visa and pay him a fine of 1,200 euros.
After he got the visa, he chose to go to Mauritius instead as he didn’t want to spend his money in France.
But even after he got the visa, he chose to go to Mauritius instead as he didn’t want to spend his money in France.
The Cameroonian’s case is unique as many Africans denied Schengen visas rarely appeal or contest the decisions in court. Instead, applicants often reapply, incurring additional costs in the process.
In 2024 alone, African applicants lost nearly €60 million ($67.5 million) in non-refundable Schengen visa fees, according to data from the LAGO Collective, a London-based research group tracking global mobility.
“The financial cost of rejected visas is just staggering; you can think of them as ‘reverse remittances,’ money flowing from poor to rich countries, which we never hear about,” the LAGO Collective’s Foresti says.
Schengen visa fees increased from 80 to 90 euros in July 2024, making it even more expensive for the world’s poorest applicants. (Business Insider Africa)
• Jean Mboulè, Cameroonian who won landmark legal case against France after his Schengen visa application was rejected on questionable grounds
