ABSTRACT

This chapter draws on several sources: interviews with two key policy-officers of the visa unit of the Directorate-General Home Affairs (European Commission); Participant observations in the Belgian, French and Italian visa section and the private visa application centres; and interviews with the officers appointed to take decisions on Schengen visa, consuls-general, visa application centre workers, and the research finally draws upon onsite observation of decision-making. Long-time immersion has allowed for establishing a rapport with respondents based on trust. Informal fieldwork settings have been crucial for data collection. In order to assess the reliability of data, the chapter reviews the same settings more than once. The chapter discusses the work routines and the practices that were exceptional. In order to guarantee the identity protection of the respondents, the exact dates of interviews and of field journal excerpts are not specified. The chapter provides some elements that account for state-bound bordering policies in Morocco.