Schengen visa rejections cost Nigerians €3.4m as application fees surge to €90

A report by Schengen visa statistics has revealed that from Tuesday, June 11, African nationals would pay €90 instead of €80 for a Schengen visa application

The report highlighted that the EU’s revenue was bolstered by €3.4 million, a significant portion of which was generated from rejecting Schengen visa applications submitted by Nigerian citizens.

The data revealed that in 2023, African nationals faced 704,000 visa application rejections.

“This means that €56.3m went up in smoke, considering that visa application fees are not refundable,” the report states

The report highlighted that a significant number of denied visa applications had led African nationals to spend millions annually.

These expenses, referred to as 'reverse remittances,' only benefit EU countries without providing any advantage to the applicants.

The report states that, “African nationals spent €56.3m in visa application fees in 2023, representing 43 per cent of all expenses; rejection rates in 2023 were especially high for African and Asian countries, which bear 90 per cent of all expenses. Expenditures are to increase by 12.5 per cent starting next week as the EU raises visa fees for adults from €80 to €90 on 11 June, following a recent decision by the EU Commission.”

Algeria, Morocco tops rejection log

In 2023, Algeria led in the number of rejected applications, accounting for 23.5% of the total amount spent on such rejections. The country also had the second-highest number of rejections, with 289,000 out of 704,000 applications being denied, making up 42.3% of all requests. Additionally, Moroccans, who were the top visa applicants from Africa, faced the highest number of visa rejections.

“A total of 437,000 visa requests filed by this nationality group were rejected in 2023, representing 62 per cent of the total. As per expenses, Moroccans spent €10.9m on rejected visa applications in 2023,” the stated as quoted by Punch.

How African applicants impacted hike in Schengen visa application fee

The report highlighted that Africans were significantly affected by these costs, given that most African nations have some of the lowest wages globally.

The study found that Africans accounted for 43.1% of the total revenue from rejected visa applications in 2023.

A recent analysis by EU Observer showed that Schengen visa rejections generated €130 million in 2023.