French Embassy in Uzbekistan Warns Against Visa Scammers

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — The diplomatic mission of France in the Republic of Uzbekistan has issued an official appeal to citizens warning them of an increase in fraud cases related to the process of slot booking and entry visa processing.

The statement emphasizes that any commercial manipulations by third parties and attempts to make illegal profits from the visa application submission procedure are completely unacceptable and are strictly suppressed.

The embassy urged applicants to plan their trips to France well in advance and to categorically refuse to pay any unofficial fees that are not provided for by the regulations of the authorized operator TLScontact. In the event of a temporary absence of available slots in the electronic queue system, citizens are advised not to resort to the services of dubious intermediaries but to repeat the attempt independently after some time, as new appointment dates are opened by the visa center on a regular basis.

Special attention in the appeal is paid to compliance with the established order of work and the execution of all administrative instructions of TLScontact employees. At the same time, the diplomatic mission clarified that priority rights and assistance when submitting documents for obtaining visas are traditionally provided to current and former Uzbek students who are studying or previously completed their studies at French higher educational institutions, as well as to qualified working specialists.

Representatives of the embassy added that relevant departments conduct regular monitoring and audits of the registration process. If any confirmed facts of fraud or artificial withholding of slots are identified, strict sanctions will be immediately applied to the guilty persons.

The international company TLScontact acts as the sole official operator which, on the basis of a contract with diplomatic agencies, ensures the reception of documents, organizes appointments for citizens, and provides general administrative and technical support for the visa process.