France becomes first EU country to issue digital Schengen Visas for the Paris Olympics

Since Monday, 1st January 2024, France has started operating a new system called the “Olympic Consulate” which will be processing applications of 15,000 international athletes, 9,000 journalists and delegations of foreign countries participating in the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports. The system has been established in a bid of the French authorities to prevent the applications for the Olympics from getting mixed up with the flood of files currently being processed at French visa centres abroad. “It [the system] is indeed necessary to guarantee the issuance of visas within timeframes compatible with the successful organization of the Games.” shared, France Ministry of the Interior. Applications will be filed and processed via the France-Visas platform completely online, which makes France the first EU country to process visas online, in line with the EU Schengen visa digitalisation plans adopted by the Parliament last October. At the same time, these 70,000 people will not have their visas affixed to their passports, but will have them integrated directly into their accreditation cards. The Olympic and Paralympic Games in France are set to be held from July 26 to August 11 and from August 28 to September 8, 2024, respectively. The country expects around 1.5 million spectators from all over the world to attend the games.

“In 2024, France will host the summer Olympic Games for the first time in a century, and the Paralympic Games for the first time in its history. It will host 15,000 athletes, over 9,000 accredited journalists, and almost 1.5 million spectators from all over the world ” said France Diplomacy.

Previously, the 2024 Paris Olympic Games services and relations manager, Alejandro Recalde, had announced that athletes and officials who hold a valid multiple-entry Schengen visa, will not be required to apply for a French Schengen visa to attend the event, as they will be able to use their existing visa. Yet, they will still require accreditation for the games.

France has been investing a lot of money and energy in order to avoid any security threats during these games, which will be held in the country for the first time in a century. It has also been one of the main reasons for the postponement of the launch of the Entry/Exit System, after pressuring the EU that the system could create chaos at its borders in the summer.