Arrangements are being made in various countries to appoint travel agents who would be responsible for taking visa applications together with the necessary documentation to the closest Maltese embassy or non-honorary consulate.

Replying to a parliamentary question by Labour MP Carmelo Abela, Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said that since Malta became a member of the Schengen area, there were complaints regarding the need for strong growth in the country's administrative capability, such as in the number of Maltese consulates in certain third countries.

Another complaint was that it was no longer possible to issue visas at the border.

To mitigate these problems the ministry utilised the assistance of Italian, Austrian and Spanish authorities and used their consulates for the issuance of visas to Malta from 90 countries where Malta did not have an embassy or consulate.

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