Applicants from third countries that need to apply for a Schengen visa, spend more money on their applications, with these expenses sometimes reaching millions.
Countries with the highest visa rejection rates are often some of the countries with the lowest income, which indicates that the application process for them can be costly, Schengen.News reports.
Yet, these nationalities file many Schengen visa applications but receive fewer approved decisions. Four out of all five of these nationalities, come from the African continent.
Countries of Origin for Applicants Affected the Most by Visa Expenses in 2023
According to Time Camp, nationals of Comoros have an average wage of €594. A Schengen visa application costs €80. After June 11, 2024, the price rose by 12.5 per cent, taking the total cost to €90 for application.
Comoros
This African country has the highest rejection rate out of all; 61.3 per cent of all visa applications filed were rejected. This means that Comoros nationals applying for a visa spent 13.4 per cent of their wage in a visa application alone.
In general, the expenses for Schengen visas are high for this nationality and do impact applicants, especially considering that more than half of visas were denied.
The total amount spent on rejected visas by this nationality was €173,920 out of 301,440 spent on applications.
Guinea-Bissau
With rejection rates at 51 per cent, nationals of Guinea-Bissau, have spent €439,440 for Schengen visas in 2023. Out of these €210,720 were spent on visa applications that received a negative response.
The average wage of nationals in this country is €593, as Time Champ reveals. These two countries have some of the highest national wages out of all.
Pakistan
This nationality has spent the most on visas out of all on this list. A total of €6.9 million was spent on visa applications from this nationality, €3.3 million of which came from rejected visas.
The economic impact for this nationality is high, considering that the national wage is €394. Schengen visa applications could cost a Pakistani applicant a total of 20.3 per cent of their monthly income.
With 41,798 visa applications denied, the rejection rate for Pakistani applicants stands at 49.6 per cent.
Ghana
Rejection rates of Ghanian applicants in 2023, reached 47.5 per cent, with the total number of applications denied reaching 21,226. This takes the total amount spent on visa applications to €3.6 million, while €1.6 million was spent on rejected visas.
The national wage in Ghana, as Time Champ points out, is €238, meaning that a Schengen visa application costs 28.2 per cent of the monthly income.
Mali
Applicants from Mali spent €1.6 million on visa applications in 2023 – €770,960 or 46.1 per cent of which were spent on rejected visas. The average wage in Mali goes up to €300 – the lowest on this list.
While the average skilled worker’s annual salary is approximately €1,300, half of the Malian population lives below the international poverty line of €1 per day.
