Black market, bots exacerbate Schengen visa appointment crisis for Turkish citizens

ISTANBUL

Turkish citizens, already affected by Schengen visa rejections, now face a new challenge as securing appointments at foreign consulates becomes increasingly difficult due to the widespread use of automated bots and exploitation by intermediaries.

Despite a slight decrease in rejection rates as per recent data, Türkiye is now arguing challenges in securing appointments.

A growing number of applicants have resorted to automated software and bots in a desperate bid to secure scarce appointment slots. These bots can access appointment systems at a speed far beyond human capability, instantly identifying availability, auto-filling forms and overwhelming the system with simultaneous entries.

This allows them to hoard appointment slots en masse, which are then resold on the black market at exorbitant prices.

These automated programs not only exhaust legitimate availability but also compromise the integrity of appointment systems, creating artificial scarcity.

By scraping websites in real-time, they are capable of manipulating access and shutting out genuine applicants.

In response, VFS Global — a third-party provider of visa and passport management services contracted by numerous diplomatic missions — has implemented a series of countermeasures.

“We take action every single day,” stated Sertan Aslantürk, VFS Global’s Deputy Regional Head for Türkiye and Azerbaijan.

“Initially, we introduced virtual point-of-sale systems due to bot interference. Subsequently, we implemented virtual keyboards, IP address restrictions and blocked VPN-based access.”

Aslantürk further revealed the introduction of a digital “waiting room” mechanism to mitigate the exploitative tactics employed by these applications.

Individuals are forced to spend days glued to their screens in hopes of catching an available slot, while others, unwilling to wait, turn to intermediaries, many of whom demand staggering fees.

“Some agents are demanding between 500 and 1,000 euros, sometimes even as much as 3,000 euros,” Orhan İşcil, the managing director of a visa services company, told private broadcaster NTV. 

“It’s a completely unregulated market. I urge our citizens not to trust advertisements they encounter on social media. Many have handed over money only to be met with silence — no appointment, no recourse.”