The Easiest Country to Get a Schengen Visa: What the Official Data Says

When planning your trip to Europe, getting a Schengen visa can feel like an intimidating part of your journey.

The EU shares data about how many people apply for Schengen visas each year, by country. They also include what percentage of those applications are denied. This information can be interesting to travelers, as it gives them a general idea about the likelihood of approval… but it also isn’t that simple.

In this guide, we'll take a look at this data and explain why, while yes, it’s accurate, there’s more to it than that.

Do keep in mind that while you’ll learn about countries that have varying rejection rates, visa approval rates, and rejection rates, these change frequently and can also vary based on your nationality, the type of visa that you are applying for, and more.

When applying for a Schengen visa, approval is never guaranteed, regardless of rejection rate data.

Understanding rejection rates

This is a very nuanced topic because there are many variables at play.

Unfortunately, looking at the visa rejection rates won’t give you a clear picture of whether or not your visa application will be approved or denied.

Visa rejection rates are a global average, but they don’t reflect how visas are actually approved or denied.

Many different factors go into the decision process for visa applications, including:

• The nationality of the applicant.
• The specific type of visa being applied for.
• How strong the application is (for example, are all of the necessary documents included, and have the bare requirements been met?).
• Migration flows.
• And more.

Not only that, rejection rates are fluid, meaning they can (and do!) change at any given time.

While yes, we can look at a global rejection rate, each nationality has its own rejection rate depending on the type of visa, the strength of the application, and other variables. This also means that each visa type has its own rejection rate, too! It’s truly case-by-case.

So, as you can see, global rejection rates aren’t a one-size-fits-all, and they also aren’t a reliable indicator as to whether or not your visa application will be approved or denied.

While visa approvals are never guaranteed, the best way to help your visa get approved is to have a strong application and meet all of the requirements set by the Schengen area.

With all of that being said, here are the 2024 global rejection rates for each country in the Schengen area.

Austria visa rejection rates

13.7% of Austria Schengen visa applications were rejected in 2024. This is out of the 224,747 applications received, and slightly down from 2023's rate (14.34%).

Belgium visa rejection rates

24.6% of Belgium visa applications were rejected out of the 188,766 applied for. This is down 3.9% from 2023.

Bulgaria visa rejection rates

9.4% of visa applications for Bulgaria were rejected in 2024. Bulgaria received 122,229 Schengen visa applications. There isn't year-over-year data available yet as Bulgaria is a new member of the Schengen area.

Croatia visa rejection rates

19.3% of Croatia Schengen visas were denied out of the 42,165 applications processed. That is down 3.5% year over year.

Czech Republic visa rejection rates

15.8% of Czech Schengen visa applications were rejected out of the 150,629 processed. The global rejection rate for Czech Republic dropped just over 9% from the previous year.

Denmark visa rejection rates

23.7% of Denmark Schengen visa applications were rejected in 2024 out of the 132,158 processed. Denmark's Schengen visa rejection rate increased 11.7% from the previous year.

Estonia visa rejection rates

27.2% of Estonia Schengen visa applications were denied out of the
12,125 processed in 2024. That's down 17.8% year over year.

Finland visa rejection rates

15.2% of Finnish Schengen visa applications applied for in 2024 were rejected. That is out of the 90,611 applications received. Finland's rejection rate dropped 17.8% from 2023.

France visa rejection rates

15.8% of Schengen visa applications for France were denied in 2024.
3,072,728 applications for France were processed. Their rejection rate has dropped just over 5% since 2023.

Germany visa rejection rates

13.7% of German Schengen visas were denied in 2024 out of the
1,512,675 processed. Germany's rejection rate dropped around 4% from the previous year.

Greece visa rejection rates

13.2% of Greece Schengen visas were rejected in 2024 out of the
710,024 applications processed. Greece rejection rates are down over 10% from the previous year.

Hungary visa rejection rates

12.8% of Hungary Schengen visa applications were denied in 2024. This is out of the 251,364 applications received. Hungary's rejection rate dropped over 15% year over year.

Iceland visa rejection rates

6.6% of Iceland Schengen visas were rejected in 2024 out of the
35,413 applications processed. Iceland's rejection rate increased by 200% year over year.

Italy visa rejection rates

10.9% of Italy Schengen visas were rejected in 2024 out of the
1,233,316 applications received. Italy's rejection rate dropped 9% from the previous year.

Latvia visa rejection rates

10.9% of Latvia Schengen visas were rejected in 2024 out of the
17654 applications processed. Rejection rates for Latvia are down 6.8% from 2023.

Liechtenstein visa rejection rates

This data isn’t readily available from the European Union. Liechtenstein visas are processed by Swiss embassies.

Lithuania visa rejection rates

14.1% of Lithuania Schengen visas were denied in 2024 out of the 33,532 applications received. That is up more than 10% from 2023.

Luxembourg visa rejection rates

12.7% of Luxembourg Schengen visas were rejected in 2024 out of the 13,007 applications received. Year over year, there wasn't a significant change in Luxembourg's rejection rates.

Malta visa rejection rates

38.5% of Malta Schengen visas were denied in 2024 out of the 45,578 applications received. That's down 2.3% from 2023.

Dutch visa rejection rates

15.5% of Dutch Schengen visas were rejected in 2024 out of the
728656 applications processed. The rejection rate for the Netherlands dropped by over 10% in 2024.

Norway visa rejection rates

12.8% of Norway Schengen visas were rejected in 2024 out of the 149,988 applications received. Norway's global rejection rate fell nearly 20% year over year.

Poland visa rejection rates

17.2% of Polish Schengen visas were denied in 2024 out of the 111,538 applications received. Poland's rejection rate dropped 16.2% from 2023.

Portugal visa rejection rates

11.3% of Portugal Schengen visa applications were denied in 2024 out of the 206420 received. That's a nearly 30% drop year over year.

Romania visa rejection rates

9.4% of Romania Schengen visas were rejected in 2024 out of the 35,359 received. There isn't year-over-year data available yet as Romania is a new member of the Schengen area.

Slovakia visa rejection rates

9.9% of Slovakia Schengen visa applications were denied in 2024 out of the 14,215 received. Slovakia's rejection rate dropped by over 23% in 2024.

Slovenia visa rejection rates

24.5% of Slovenia visa applications were denied in 2024 out of the 18,171 processed. Slovenia is one of the few Schengen countries to see an increased global rejection rate, it being 57% higher than in 2023.

Spain visa rejection rates

15.7% of Spain visas were rejected in 2024 out of the 1,634,887 applications received. This is a 15% decrease from the previous year.

Sweden visa rejection rates

24.0% of Sweden Schengen visas were denied in 2024 out of the 188,623 applications processed. That is a 3.8% increase over the previous year.

Switzerland visa rejection rates

11.3% of Swiss Schengen visas were denied in 2024. This is out of the 636,077 applications received. Switzerland's rejection rate has increased 5.6% year over year.

These metrics were taken from the EU Migration and Home Affairs

Why rates differ between countries

Some Schengen countries enforce stricter visa policies due to various factors, such as high tourist demand, stringent immigration laws, or higher rates of visa overstays. It's also important to remember that people who apply for visas differ around the world, and everyone's personal situation or "file" is different.

Based on the global rejection rates above, countries like Malta, Estonia, and Belgium were more selective in approving visa applications in 2024.

Countries like Iceland, Romania, and Bulgaria had lower rejection rates as a global average, though Iceland did see a significant increase in denied applications.

Which country gives the quickest Schengen visa?

There isn’t a country that processes applications faster than others.

How fast your visa application is processed depends more on seasonality (low or peak season). During peak season, it can take more time to get a visa appointment, which will lengthen the time it takes to receive visa approval from the embassy.

During peak season, it can take multiple weeks or more.

How fast can you get a Schengen visa?

On average, Schengen visa processing takes anywhere from 48 hours to 15 working days, but it varies depending on seasonality.

It’s highly recommended that you apply for your visa at least 3 months before your intended travel date to ensure you don’t have a time crunch as your travels approach.

How can I increase my chances of getting a Schengen visa?

There are a few things that you can do! To increase your chances of approval, make sure to:

• Submit all of the required documents in the requested formats.
• Be organized and double-check all documents for accuracy.
• Ensure all of the dates in your documents match (travel dates, accommodation dates, and insurance dates).

With that being said, only the embassy/consulate can approve or deny a Schengen visa application. Even when adhering to all of the Schengen visa application qualifications, a visa can still be rejected.

FAQs

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