Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune signed decrees—published on 5 March 2026—naming new consuls in Paris, Marseille and Strasbourg. The shake-up follows two years of diplomatic friction that saw visa issuance slow sharply for the 1.7 million-strong Algerian diaspora and for French firms sending staff to Algeria. Chabane Berdja takes over the high-volume Paris post after a stint in Nantes; Tewfik Ahmed Othmane Tabeti moves from Bordeaux to Marseille; and Aouatef Hanane Bouzid becomes consul general in Strasbourg. All three officially assume duties retroactively from 21 January 2026, ending a vacancy period during which only acting heads processed urgent travel documents. French employers routinely rely on Algerian consulates to legalise work-contract translations and to expedite visa formalities for project engineers. According to French business group MEDEF, processing times for Algerian visas rose from an average 8 days in 2023 to 23 days in late 2025. Paris hopes the fresh appointments—and the French interior minister’s confidence-building visit to Algiers in February—will normalise flows ahead of a planned joint economic forum in June. For Algerians residing in France, the change promises shorter queues for passport renewals and civil-status certificates, many of which are needed for residency permit renewals at French prefectures. Observers also see the move as a sign both capitals are ready to rebuild law-enforcement cooperation on migration and readmission dossiers that had been frozen since 2024.
Source: ObservAlgérie
