The French Embassy in Algiers has issued 8,351 student visas for 2025, nearly 1,000 more than last year, despite frosty diplomatic ties. The record 87% acceptance rate surprised French authorities, who were not consulted.
While diplomats called the increase “insignificant,” politically it is seen as a major concession: Algeria still refuses to repatriate nationals under Order of Foreign Nationals and two French citizens remain detained there.
Last summer, France stripped 40 Algerian diplomats of their privileges, with the French interior minister wanting to end an era of diplomacy steeped in “good feelings.”
