- India had the second-highest Schengen visa rejections in the world in 2022, By a rough estimate, that adds up to Rs87 crore on trips that could never happen.
- A total of 6,71,928 applications were filed at consulates and visa centres in India last year. Out of these, 1,21,188 applications were rejected.
- The only country with higher visa rejections than India is Algeria, where 1,79,409 of 3,92,053 visa applications were rejected.
- India invested approximately Rs.480 crores in visa applications last year, Rs87 crore out of this was lost to trips that never happened.
The year 2022 saw a steep rise in Schengen visa applications from India. As travel bounced back, there was a 415% rise in visa applications from India. Rejection rates dropped as well, which means more visas were granted. But as per recent data from Schengen Visa Info, India still had the second-highest Schengen visa rejections in the world. Over 1 lakh visas were refused in 2022. By a rough estimate, that adds up to Rs87 crore on trips that could never happen. Here’s what rejection rates looked like around the world, and what they costed to travellers:
A total of 6,71,928 applications were filed at consulates and visa centres in India last year. Out of these, 1,21,188 applications were rejected, with a rejection rate of 18%. While the number is lower than India’s 2021 rejection rate (23.3%), it is still higher than the average rejection rate across the world, which stood at 17.9% in 2022.
The only country with higher visa rejections than India is Algeria, where 1,79,409 of 3,92,053 visa applications were rejected. That’s 45.8% of visas turned down. Here’s what rejection numbers looked like in the remaining top eight countries:
Türkiye rejected 1,20,876 of 7,78,409 visas at a 15.5% rejection rate. Morocco rejected 1,19,346 of 4,23,201 visas at a 28.2% rejection rate. Russia rejected 68,753 of 6,87,239 visas at a 10.0% rejection rate. Tunisia rejected 48,909 of 1,68,346 visas at a 29.1% rejection rate. The United Arab Emirates rejected 42,105 of 1,87,196 visas at a 22.5% rejection rate. Nigeria rejected 39,189 of 86,815 visas at a 45.1% rejection rate. Iran rejected 33,679 of 1,42,243 visas at a 23.7% rejection rate. Egypt rejected 31,271 of 1,67,995 at an 18.6% rejection rate.
However, lower rejection numbers are often owed to lower application numbers. When compared in terms of rejection rates, Nigeria came second after Algeria, as the country received fewer applications than countries like India, but rejected almost half of them all.
In India, the visa application fee for an Indian citizen above 12 years of age with an ordinary passport is €80 or Rs7,200. The figure varies for children below 12 years of age, students and representatives of non-profit organizations and nationals of other countries. While the current data does not reveal demographic statistics, for perspective, a seven-grand fee per applicant would mean that India invested approximately Rs480 crores in visa applications last year. With 1,21,188 applications rejected, Rs87 crore out of this was lost to trips that never happened.
(With inputs from agencies
