Eastern Cape visa applicants hit by extra travel costs

A RECENT ruling by the
Spanish consulate-general
has redefined jurisdictions
for visa applications within
South Africa. Eastern Cape
clients must now apply
through the Cape Town
application centre.
Agents in the region
report that confirmed client
biometric appointments are
being rejected after travel
arrangements to Pretoria
have been booked, with
clients incurring enormous
costs.
When TNW contacted
BLS: Spain Visa Application
Centre in Pretoria, a
consultant advised that the
office was now rejecting all
Eastern Cape applications.
The consultant said affected
applicants would now have
to travel to Cape Town for
their biometric processing,
regardless of the increased
travelling costs. “Our office
had too much work and
could not cope with the
number of applications that
we were receiving. Eastern
Cape now falls under Cape
Town jurisdiction,” TNW was
told.
“While BLS Pretoria has
been processing visa
applications for some of
the Eastern Cape clients
who already had confirmed
visa appointments with
its offices, other clients’
applications have been
rejected after biometrics
have been processed by
the office,” says Michele
Kendall, business owner
at Visalogix. She adds
that one client with a
confirmed appointment
in Johannesburg booked
flights and then received
a notification from BLS
advising her that she fell
outside their jurisdiction.
Michele says coastal
Schengen visa applications
have been one of the
biggest challenges since the
introduction of the biometric
ruling in 2014. She
says, while all Schengen
consulates are supposed
to keep biometric data on
file for five years to reduce
the admin cost and time to
reapply for visas, few do.