European university alliance CIVIS calls for visa policy for science to strenghten Europe-Africa mobility

The European university alliance CIVIS is calling for a dedicated visa policy for science cooperation to ease "major obstacles" faced by academics and researchers in Europe-Africa partnerships.

In a position paper published on 09/09/2026, CIVIS said visa procedures remained "a major impediment for African citizens travelling to Europe for academic purposes". The alliance welcomes recent efforts by the European Commission to modernise visa policy but calls for "complementing related policy initiatives".

CIVIS highlighted the "significantly expanded cooperation in higher education, research and innovation between Europe and Africa", but pointed out that "applicants frequently face long waiting times, difficulties obtaining appointments, high costs, long-travel distances to embassies and…