By Alessandra Bocchi.
Tunis, 24 March 2017:
The Italian embassy in Tripoli has announced it will start issuing visas for Libyan nationals as of Sunday 2 April using an agency operting in the capital’s Tripoli Tower. The documents issued will be Schengen visas, meaning that Libyans will be free to travel to countries that are part of the Schengen area, provided that they first travel to Italy.
Libyans will still be able to apply at Italian consulates elsewhere for visas to Italy, including Tunis, Cairo, Istanbul and Amman.
Last month, the Italian-Libyan Chamber of Commerce called for the Libyans to be able to apply for visas in Tripoli saying that it would help rebuild business links.
Italy reopened its embassy in Tripoli in January, having been the last western embassy to leave the country in February 2015.