Mobilizing local practical knowledge : granting of Schengen visas at the Belgian consulate general in Casablanca

Abstract

Relatively little analysis has been carried out on the issuance of Schengen visas. While there exists some important work providing a general analysis of this central instrument of European mobility policy, there has been little scrutiny of its implementation at the consular level. This article offers an analysis of the production of practical knowledge developed by administrative officers for the purpose of examining Schengen visa applications and substantiating their decisions. The core of the administrative work of visa agents is based on their assessment of what official texts refer to as the “migratory risk” inherent in applications within the context of tighter EU external border controls. Our approach favours the distinction between instituted knowledge (laws, circulars, regulations) and local knowledge produced from the bottom-up on a daily basis by street-level bureaucrats in the Schengen visa attribution process.