Schengen visa rejection rates for Indians among the highest in the world: Report

A recent Schengen visa statistics has revealed that Indian travellers have one of the highest rejection rates in the world when it comes to Schengen visa. To give a perspective, Indians filed over 6 lakh Schengen visa applications in 2022, which happens to be the third highest in the world, but also faced a steep rejection rate of 18 per cent, as per a report.

Estonia, Malta and Slovenia rejected the most number of Schengen visa applications from India, while Germany, Italy and Hungary accepted the most, Economic Times reported citing the recent Schengen visa statistics.

Estonia rejected the highest share of visas from India in 2022 - 56 per cent of 1,986 applications. Malta had a 45 per cent rejection rate, while Slovenia rejected 44.5 per cent of 2,732 visas.

On the other hand, Germany had the lowest rejection rate for Indians. The Bengaluru consulate reportedly rejected only eight out of 6,345 Schengen visas, Kolkata rejected one application and Chennai two.

A total of 7,572,755 short-term visa application were received by Schengen visa embassies located worldwide. Türkiye occupies the first spot with 778,409 applications, with Russia second with 687,239, and India third with 671,928 applications.

What is a Schengen visa?

A Schengen visa is a short-stay visa that allows a person to travel to any member of the Schengen Area. A person with Schengen visa can stay up to 90 days for tourism or business purposes in the Schengen Area.

It is the most common visa for Europe. It enables its holder to enter, freely travel within, and leave the Schengen zone from any of the Schengen member countries. There are no border controls within the Schengen Zone.

Currently, there are 27 European countries in the Schengen Area. The 27 Schengen countries are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

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