Schengen Statistics indicates that, given their low visa application rejection rates, Slovakia, Greece, and Switzerland are the three main nations
Schengen Statistics indicates that, given their low visa application rejection rates, Slovakia, Greece, and Switzerland are the three main nations most likely to grant a Schengen visa.
According to a press statement, Slovakia had a low rejection rate for 10 nationalities, Greece for nine, while six nationalities received a positive visa application after submitting their request in Switzerland. Slovakia issued visas for many Turkish, South Africans, Filipinos, Indonesians, Kosovars, Kazakhs, Lebanese and Chinese nationals, while Egyptians and American residents were mainly issued visas from Greek authorities.
SchengenVisaInfo has prepared a list of countries of origin for visa applicants in 2022 that received the lowest rejection rates for their requests for this period.
Turkiye
The statement says that Turkish citizens, the top visa applicants to the EU countries for 2022, had low rejection rates in countries like Italy at 7.14 pc, Luxembourg at 7.41 pc and Slovakia at 9.55 pc. Out of 87,648 visa applications filed to Italian consulates, around 6,259 applications were denied, while in Luxembourg, this rate was lower with 102 out of 1,377 requests and 180 out of 1,884 visa applications filed to Slovakia.
Russia
Poland, Latvia and the Netherlands had the lowest rejection rate for Russian applicants with 132 applications in total receiving a negative response, compared to 7,653 total applications. This indicated that 1.13 pc visa applications by Russians were denied by Polish consulates, compared to 1.75 pc rejected by Latvia and 2.09 pc by Dutch authorities, adds the press statement.
India
Out of 1,861 visa applicants from India, Iceland has rejected only 5.48 pc of them, translating into 102 denied applications. However, a reason for the low rejection rate from Iceland can be the relatively low number of applicants, but that is not the case for Germany, which is one of the top destinations for Indian applicants. Out of 76,352 visa applicants, 8,615 were rejected by German authorities in 2022, accounting for a rejection rate of 11.2 pc. Like Germany, Switzerland, which received a total of 106,025 visa applications from Indians, rejected only 13.1 pc of the requests, totalling 13,984 requests.
Morocco
The report says that Poland has rejected the least applicants from Morocco, at 9.09 pc of applications or 42 requests in total, while Switzerland had a higher rejection rate for Moroccan applicants in the same year. Around 13.1 pc of applicants were rejected by Swiss authorities, accounting for 440 out of 3,356 applications filed. Visa rejection rates for Moroccans were also low from Greek authorities, as 22.1 pc out of a total of 782 applications received a negative response.
Algeria
Compared to previous nationalities, Algerians have a higher application rate and, consequently, a higher rejection rate. The report says that Polish authorities were more likely to issue visas to Algerians in 2022, as 35 pc of applications were denied, accounting for 797 rejected applicants. Visa applications filed to Spanish consulates were denied considerably less than from other consulates, with the rejection rate for 102,656 applications being around 38.9 pc, translating into 39,944 rejected applicants. Finland is the third country that denied the fewest applications from Algeria at 39.2 pc or 205 out of 522 applications.
Saudi Arabia
Finnish authorities have rejected none of the 89 visa applications filed by Saudis in 2022, showing applications from these nationals. Austria and Switzerland also had a low visa rejection rate for Saudis at 1.78 and 2.42 pc of applications, respectively, accounting for 297 and 628 rejections. Saudi applicants had a low rejection rate by Spanish and Czech authorities, who rejected only 2.5 and 0.33 pc of all applications.
Thailand
According to the report, about 3.16 pc of applications filed by Thais were rejected by Swiss authorities in 2022, indicating that 1,165 requests were denied. In addition, 312 or 3.69 pc of Thai applicants to Austria received a negative response. The rejection rate is higher from Danish consulates, which denied 14.38 pc of applicants, translating into 1,043 requests.
Tunisia
Poland at 23.05 pc and Portugal at 23.22 pc had the lowest visa rejection rates for Tunisians, while Norway rejected neither of the two applications that were filed in 2022.
Egypt
The statement says that Egyptian applicants were rejected the least when applying for Slovenian visas, as 6.6 pc of 512 applications received a negative response. The rejection rate among Egyptian applicants was also low at Greek consulates at 10.1 pc of applications, translating into 982 rejections. Sweden had rejected no visa applications from Egyptians in 2022, but that is not relevant as only one applicant was recorded.
South Africa
Slovakia rejected only one applicant from South Africa in 2022, while Hungary rejected around 23, taking the rejection rate to 2.74. However, regardless of the higher number of applicants, Greek consulates rejected only 3.1 pc of visa applicants from South Africa in 2022, translating into 371 applicants. Furthermore, Czechia rejected a total of 20 applications or 1.6 pc of total requests filed by South African applicants.
Philippines
Around 2.1 pc of applicants from the Philippines received a negative response from Greek authorities, indicating that only 190 requests were denied. The report says that application rate was considerably higher for Filipino applicants to German consulates, 14,474 compared to 9,059, but the rejection rate remained low at 3.09 pc. In addition, Slovakia denied five applications, accounting for 0.8 pc of all requests.
Kuwait
Only three applications out of 176 that were filed by Kuwaiti nationals to Malta were rejected in 2022, making the European country one of the least rejecting countries for this nationality. Norway, on the other hand, rejected no applications in 2022, but only seven requests were made. However, the rejection rate for Kuwaitis was lower, especially from Italian authorities, who rejected only 3.3 pc of applications, which translates into 603 denied applications out of 18,130 requests.
Indonesia
Austria denied the fewest applications from Indonesia, around 16 out of 4,442 while the rejection rate was 0.36 pc. In addition, 0.62 pc of applicants to Greek consulates were rejected, translating to 17 denied applications. Similarly, only two applications were rejected by Slovak authorities from 299 requests.
Kosovo
Lithuania has rejected only 0.20 pc of applications from Kosovo, accounting for 12 denied requests, while Slovakia also had a similar visa application rate at 12 rejected applications accounting for a rejection rate of 8.89 pc. Furthermore, 5.45 pc of applicants were rejected by Greek authorities, resulting in 502 rejected applications, while Italy rejected around 183 requests, accounting for 4.53 pc.
Belarus
Finland rejected no applications from Belarus in 2022, while Czechia rejected six requests, accounting for 0.58 pc. France and Italy rejected more applications at 53 and 284 requests or 0.59 and 0.78 pc of all applications denied, respectively.
Kazakhstan
The report adds that Kazakh applicants received no rejection from the Netherlands, Slovakia and Norway, while Greek and Italian consulates rejected 2.14 and 5.67 pc of applications. In addition, Estonia and Switzerland rejected around 60 and 184 applications, respectively, accounting for 6.07 and 6.09 pc in rejection rates.
Lebanon
Slovenia rejected only four visa applications from Lebanese applicants, at 1.77 pc, while rejection rates from Slovakia at 10.58 pc, Greece at 11.17 pc and Switzerland at 16.97 pc were slightly higher than others.
China
The report says that only four and two visa applicants from China were rejected by Slovakia and Iceland in 2022, accounting for 1.79 and 2.47 pc of rejected applicants from this country, while Finland rejected around 2.59 pc of applications, accounting for 33 rejected requests.
