Applicants Lost €145 Million Due to Rejected Schengen Visa Applications in 2024

Key Highlights: Schengen Visa Rejections Result in €145 Million Loss for Applicants in 2024

• Over 1.7 million Schengen visa applications were rejected by EU states in 2024, leading to a financial loss of more than €145 million for the applicants.

• Applicants from African nations faced the highest rejection rates, making them the most financially impacted by the refusals.

• France, Spain, and Germany accounted for the majority of rejected applications, collectively generating over €79 million from denied visa requests.

• In total, 11.7 million Schengen visa applications were submitted in 2024, marking a 13.4% increase compared to 2023, when 10.3 million applications were filed.

• According to SchengenVisaInfo statistics, the rejection rate also rose by 4.4%, from 1.6 million in 2023 to 1.7 million in 2024.

• The cost burden increased further due to a visa fee hike implemented on June 11, 2024, raising the fee from €80 to €90. Based on an average fee of €85 for the year, rejected applicants lost €145 million in 2024—an 11% increase (€14.3 million) over the previous year.

EU Collected Nearly €1 Billion in Visa Fees in 2024

• With an average visa fee of €85, the EU generated an estimated €995.9 million from over 11.7 million applications, marking a 20.5% increase compared to the €826 million collected in 2023.

• The increase is attributed to both the rise in application numbers and the higher visa fees.

• Despite the increase in application costs, the share of revenue from rejected applications slightly decreased—from 15.8% in 2023 to 14.5% in 2024.

Countries with the Highest Visa Expenses

The following nationalities submitted the most applications and therefore incurred the highest total expenses:

Countries with the Highest Rejection Rates (Proportional Loss)

• Comoros had the highest proportional financial loss: €149,090 lost on 1,754 rejections from just 2,853 applications.

• Other heavily impacted nationalities include:

  • Pakistan: €2.9 million

  • Bangladesh: €1.7 million

  • Nigeria: €4.2 million

  • Senegal: €2.7 million

  • Ghana: €2.1 million

  • Mali: €387,600

  • Democratic Republic of Congo: €955,145

This continues a trend seen in previous years, with African nations bearing the highest costs due to elevated rejection rates.

Countries Generating the Highest Revenue from Visa Applications

The following Schengen states received the most applications and, accordingly, earned the most in visa fees:

These top five countries alone handled 63.6% of all applications, accounting for €633.5 million—over 63% of the total €995.9 million collected in visa fees in 2024.