A surge in international travel soon after the COVID-19 pandemic has strained visa processing systems, resulting in a backlog of applications, longer wait times and even a high rejection rate.
While the Schengen visa allows Indians to travel to more European countries with a single visa, the rejection rate is also quite high. According to a recent report, Schengen authorities rejected a staggering number of Indian visa applications in 2022 and Indians ended up paying more than 87 crore for Schengen visas that were rejected. Out of the total 6,71,928 visa applications that were made, 1,21,188 visa applications from India were rejected, with the rejection rate standing at 18 per cent.
The Schengen visa fee per person was increased from 60 to 80 Euros in 2020. For children between six to 12 years, the visa fee stands at 40 Euros or equivalent. In addition to this, an additional amount will have to be paid to the VFS Global visa application centre for the administrative support they provide for the successful submission of applications to the Embassy/Consulate.
Albert Sundar Raj, Branch Manager, ITL Tours and Travels, says, “In addition to the visa fee, an applicant has to pay a processing fee, which is between 11,000 and 18,000, depending on the country they are visiting. If it is a Schengen visa, it will be around INR 13,000. A processing fee for a normal UK Visa varies depending on how long you are planning to stay in the country. For six months the processing fee is 12,000 and for one year it is 40,000. And if you want a priority visa service you will have to shell out at least 90,000.”
For every additional service like SMS alerts at various stages of the visa application process, you will have to pay 500 extra. All these charges are non-refundable. Albert further adds, “A US Visa is a little more expensive and hard to get. You will have to pay a minimum of 18,000.” And that’s not all. Passengers end up losing more money since tickets and hotel confirmations have to be submitted with the application. When a passport with a visa is not received in time, people end up paying huge cancellation charges.
Going by volume, a different set of EU nations acts even more difficult than the others. Though Switzerland’s overall rejection rate was significantly lower than the average at 13 per cent in 2022, the country rejected 13,984 of 1,06,025 visas. France rejected 27,681 of 1,38,643 (19.9 per cent) visas, and Spain declined 14,852 of 80,098 (or 18.5 per cent) visas.
Austria rejected 5,945 of 24,791 visas, with a 24 per cent rejection rate, while Greece rejected 9,118 of 27,457 (34.7 per cent), and Portugal turned down 1,593 of 5,326 visas (29.9 per cent). Sweden rejected 5,110 from 27,775 applications, with the rejection rate standing at 18.7 per cent.
Where India stands at the Schengen visa market
Algeria – Almost 50 per cent of visa applications were rejected from Algeria. With a total of 1,79,409 applications rejected, the rejection rate for Algerian applicants stood at 45.8 per cent.
India and Turkey followed next, with 1,21,188 and 1,20,876 visas getting rejected.
Closely followed by Morocco, Russia, and Tunisia.
Nigeria’s rejection rate was also quite high, at 45.1 per cent.