Ecuadorians lead in the submission of Schengen visa applications from South America.
Ecuadorians have submitted 34.7 percent of the visa applications from South American nationals in 2022, totaling 75,094 applications, according to data from Schengen Statistics.
Dominicans accounted for 20.3 percent with 43,996 applications, while Cubans contributed 18.4 percent with 39,931 applications. Together, these three nationalities make up 73.6 percent of the total applications, reaching 159,021.
Except for Ecuadorians, Dominicans and Cubans, some of the nationalities with the highest visa application rates for the year were Bolivia and Suriname, with their top destinations being Spain and the Netherlands.
Besart Bajrami, Founder of SchengenVisaInfo.com
These five countries of origin – Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Suriname, Bolivia, and Cuba, dominate 90.1 percent of the visa applications filed in South America for the year, with a total of 194,729 requests.
Spain is an Indisputable Destination for South Americans
Except for Surinamese, all other nationalities in South America file the most visa applications for Spain. Approximately 99.6 percent of Surinamese applications were submitted to Dutch authorities, reaching a total of 16,990 applications.
On the other hand, with a total of 121,030 applications, seven nationalities in South America: Ecuadorians, Dominicans, Chileans, Bolivians, Mexicans, Guatemalans, and Cubans, represent 62 percent of visa applications filed for a Spanish Schengen visa.
More specifically, 87.6 percent – 16,401 out of 18,718 applications of Bolivians were directed to Spanish authorities, 66 percent of Dominican applicants, and 40.2 percent of Cubans.
Schengen Countries Denied Only 14.59% of South American Applicants in 2022
The rejection rate among South Americans is low, indicating that only a few visa applicants are denied. Countries with the highest rejection rate are Haiti (43.2 percent), Bolivia (31.4 percent), and Brazil (29.6 percent).
While, on average, South Americans spent €17.2 million in visa application fees, the average expenditure was approximately €719,896.
Countries with the highest expenditure were those that filed the most visa applications – Ecuadorians (€6 million), Dominicans (€3.5 million), Cubans (€3.1 million), and Bolivians (€1.4 million), while the highest expenditure per capita was that of Surinamese – approximately €2.18 per person. This means that, on average, each person in the population contributes €2.18 to the total expenditure for visas in the country.