Unpacking the Schengen Visa Regime. A Study on Bureaucrats and Discretion in an Italian Consulate

ABSTRACT

The article focuses on European Consulates as key institutions in the filtering of prospective travelers to the Schengen area. Through qualitative research at the Italian Consulate in Dakar, the article examines the administrative practices surrounding Schengen visas. The article retraces the path travelers have to face to travel with proper documents toward the Schengen area, identifying and analyzing the role of consular bureaucracy in the implementation of the common visa policy at the local level. It will be ascertained whether the notion of street-level bureaucrats can be applied to Consular officials in their daily routine as well as investigating practices of discretion in the decision-making process of visa issuance.

Notes

1 The Italian term “nulla osta” comes from the Latin expression “nihil obstat” (literally meaning “nothing hinders”) and it is often used in the administrative field as a declaration of no objection by the institution in charge of a decision.

2 These words refer to the documentation for long-stay visas, for which the nihil obstat is needed. Nevertheless, the interview is relevant for understanding the context of lack of information and need of mediation in which démarcheurs work.

3 At the time of the fieldwork at the Italian Consulate in Dakar, the VIS was not operational in terms of collection of biometrics, but the software replacing the Visa World Network (RMV, Rete Mondiale Visti), the L-Vis, was already implemented and used in daily procedures. The VIS was fully rolled-out in West Africa, including Senegal, as from 14 March 2013.