Corporate mobility teams faced an unwelcome alert this morning when Capago, the French government’s outsourced partner in Algeria, confirmed that the France-Visas website will be taken completely offline for two four-hour maintenance windows on Wednesday 3 December (15:30–19:30 Alger time) and Tuesday 9 December (06:00–09:00). During each blackout no user—tourists, international students, posted workers or immigration providers—will be able to create a file, pay fees, book a biometric appointment or track a pending case.
Although four hours sounds modest, the timing is awkward. Early December is peak season for Algerian holiday-makers heading to French ski resorts, for students returning after the winter break and for HR departments finalising Q1 assignee start-dates. Even brief shutdowns can push thousands of applicants into later slots because Capago’s centres in Algiers, Oran, Annaba and Constantine already operate at full capacity during the holiday rush.
![France-Visas Portal Outages Next Week Could Snarl Year-End Processing]()
For multinational employers the practical risk is a cascade of delayed start dates, missed flights and breach-of-contract penalties. Mobility managers are being urged to download and save partially completed applications before the cut-off, use Capago’s group-booking tool to regain priority once systems are back, and brief travellers to carry proof of the outage (Capago e-mail or SMS) if airlines question visa issuance timing.
Longer-term, the incident underlines structural pressure on France’s consular IT. The foreign ministry is still upgrading infrastructure ahead of the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) go-live in 2026, which will require real-time data sharing between consulates, border police and airlines. Unless capacity keeps pace, similar outages could erode France’s attractiveness for investors who need fast, predictable immigration processing.
Although four hours sounds modest, the timing is awkward. Early December is peak season for Algerian holiday-makers heading to French ski resorts, for students returning after the winter break and for HR departments finalising Q1 assignee start-dates. Even brief shutdowns can push thousands of applicants into later slots because Capago’s centres in Algiers, Oran, Annaba and Constantine already operate at full capacity during the holiday rush.
For multinational employers the practical risk is a cascade of delayed start dates, missed flights and breach-of-contract penalties. Mobility managers are being urged to download and save partially completed applications before the cut-off, use Capago’s group-booking tool to regain priority once systems are back, and brief travellers to carry proof of the outage (Capago e-mail or SMS) if airlines question visa issuance timing.
Longer-term, the incident underlines structural pressure on France’s consular IT. The foreign ministry is still upgrading infrastructure ahead of the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) go-live in 2026, which will require real-time data sharing between consulates, border police and airlines. Unless capacity keeps pace, similar outages could erode France’s attractiveness for investors who need fast, predictable immigration processing.
