Greece is the sixth country in the Schengen Area that received the highest number of visa applications for 2023.
According to statistics published by SchengenVisaInfo, over six per cent of all visa applications filed to Schengen states in 2023 were submitted in Greece, representing a total of 627,008 visa requests, Schengen.News reports.
The majority of these applications came from Turkish applicants (254,377 or 40.5 per cent), followed by Russians (62,959) and Chinese (35,931).
5 Nationalities With the Highest Visa Rejections by Greece in 2023
As the data reveals, the countries of origin for applicants with the highest rejection rates by Greek authorities are mainly in the African and Asian continents.
Greece denied visa applications the most for these nationalities:
1. Pakistanis
2. Algerians
3. Tunisians
4. Senegalese
5. Iraqis
Pakistanis filed 560 visa applications to Greece in 2023, and out of these, more than half (65.54 per cent) were rejected, making this nationality group most affected by visa rejections for the year.
Algerians follow second, with 59.54 per cent of their visa applications being rejected, which accounts for 1,230 out of 2,066 visa requests submitted.
Tunisians had 56.36 per cent of their visas rejected. This means that Greek authorities issued 1,564 negative visa applications to Tunisians in 2023.
Senegalese did not have high application rates, as 240 visa applications were recorded in 2023. However, their rejection rates were fourth-highest in this list, as 56.25 per cent of visa requests (135) were rejected.
Iraqis filed 3,568 applications in 2023, and Greek authorities rejected 1,756 or 49.22 per cent of all visa requests.
Greece Approved Over 90% of Visa Applications Filed By These 3 Countries of Origin
As the data shows, countries with the highest approval rates were those that already have visa liberalisation agreements with the EU, such as Hong Kong. Applicants from these countries are usually foreigners living in Hong Kong and need a Schengen visa to be able to enter Greece.
However, out of countries that need Schengen visas, these three countries had the highest approval rates by Greek authorities:
Kazakhstan
Kazakhs filed 9,674 visa applications to Greece in 2023, and 97.78 per cent of them were approved. This means that Kazakh applicants were granted 9,459, and only 178 applications were rejected.
Indonesia
Greece approved 97.27 per cent of all applications, which represents 4,208 approved visas out of 4,326 applications. In addition, 101 visa applications were rejected, showing that visa application rates for Indonesian nationals are some of the highest.
Thailand
Thais were approved 94.75 per cent of 1,903 visa applications that were filed in 2023. That represents 1,803 visas issued and 85 rejected applications.
Source: https://schengen.news/greece-likely-to-deny-schengen-visas-for-these-nationalities/
