The talks about the EU visa liberalisation of Turkish citizens, which have been ongoing since December 2013, would be more than welcome at this time when visa rejections for this nationality are on the rise.
The number of visas rejected for Turkish applicants has tripled, increasing from 35,971 in 2014 to 169,514 in 2023.
Consequently, the share of rejected visas rose from 4.40 per cent to 16.10 per cent, Schengen.
According to Schengen Statistics Portal, the rejected visa application have cost Turkish residents a total of €619 million, spent on visa applications between 2014 and 2023.
Türkiye was the second-largest source of applications for Schengen visas in 2023.
Over one million visa applications were filed, which takes the expenditure level to €84 million.
Out of the total level of expenditure, around €68 million was spent on approved visas (867,646) while €13 million went up ‘in smoke’ as nearly 170,000 visas were denied.
Germany rejected the highest number of visa requests filed by Turks in 2023 – 55,495, representing 32.7 per cent of all rejected visas.
The second to follow was Greece, with 36,112 (21.3 per cent) rejected applications and France with 19,586 denied visas (11.5 per cent).
As of June 11, 2024, Schengen visa applicants will have to pay 12 per cent more for their applications.
It means that visa applications for Turkish nationals will increase from €84.4 million recorded in 2023 to €95 million.
However, the Turkish representatives believe that the EU should scrap visas altogether.
There is a difference in countries that are more likely to approve visas to Turkish applicants.
According to the Schengen Statistics Portal, countries that were more likely to approve visas to Turkish nationals in 2023 include Portugal, with 93 per cent of visa applications filed being approved, followed by Italy (91.1 per cent), Slovakia (88.8 per cent), Poland (86.6 per cent) and Spain (86.5 per cent).
On the other hand, Denmark, Estonia and Lithuania had the lowest approval rates for Schengen visa applications filed by Turks.
Denmark approved around 55.8 per cent of the visas while Estonia and Lithuania granted visas to 57.5 and 63.9 per cent of the applicants from Türkiye, respectively.
Source : https://schengen.news/turkish-citizens-have-spent-e619-million-on-schengen-visas-since-eu-visa-liberalisation-talks-were-launched-in-end-of-2013/
