ANKARA
The rate of rejection of applications for Schengen visas from Türkiye continues to increase, with Estonia, Finland and Belgium topping the refusal rates in 2022, data showed.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described the visa problem with some Western countries as "political blackmail," saying the issue will be resolved soon.
About 906,000 Schengen visa applications were made from Türkiye in 2019, with 9.7 % of them being rejected. The rejection rate increased to 15% in 2022.
The comparison has been made with 2019 figures because of travel restrictions in 2020 and 2021, when coronavirus was at its peak.
Russia given more visas despite sanctions
According to data from the Schengen Visa Info website, 15% of the 778,000 Schengen visa applications made from Türkiye in 2022 were rejected.
In the same period, Russian visa rejections amounted to 10%, despite Western sanctions over the country's war on Ukraine.
Estonia tripled refusals
As many as 1,517 applications were made from Türkiye to the Estonian Embassy in Ankara for a Schengen visa in 2022. But 52.1% of these applications were rejected, meaning Estonia did not issue a visa to one in two applicants.
The refusal rate of visa applications made through the Estonian Embassy in Ankara in 2019 was 16.95%.
Finland rejected 4 out of 10 applications
After Estonia, Finland had the second-highest rejection rate in Schengen visa applications made from Türkiye last year.
In 2022, 4,073 applications were made to the Finnish Embassy in Ankara. Of these, 1,558 were not granted visas and the rejection rate was 40.6 %.
The rate is striking as the mission in Ankara rejected 23.20% of the 3,676 applications made in 2019.
Belgium refused every 3rd applicant
Belgium's Consulate General in Istanbul did not grant visas to 2,566 out of 7,211 applications made in 2022, with the rejection rate being 37.7%. Thus, Belgium rejected more than one out of every three applications.
The rejection rate of the consulate in 2019 was 33%.
Sweden
Last year, 13,553 applications were made to Sweden's diplomatic mission in Türkiye, of which 22.7% were rejected. The refusal rate was 20% in 2019.
Denmark's rejection rate nearly tripled compared to 2019
Denmark, with 34% in 2022, became the fourth country to reject most visa applications from Türkiye.
Last year, 5,407 applications were made from Türkiye to Danish missions and 1,822 of them were rejected.
In 2019, as many as 7,511 applications were made and 13% of them rejected.
Hence, the data shows, the rate of rejection of Danish visa applications from Türkiye almost tripled in three years.
Norway's rejection rate decreased compared to 2019
Norway rejected 1,482 of 4,648 applications from Türkiye in 2022, with a 31.9% rejection rate.
In 2019, however, the Nordic country had turned down 1,537 out of 3,442 applications from Türkiye, and the percentage of visa denials was 38%.
75% of Schengen applications made to 4 countries
The EU countries where Turks applied for visa the most last year are Germany, Greece, France and Italy, respectively.
More than 591,000 of the 778,000 applications made from Türkiye for the Schengen visa was made to the diplomatic missions of these four countries.
With 21%, Germany had the highest rejection rate among the countries with the highest number of applications. France followed it with 13.4%.
Italy, on the other hand, rejected the least number of visas -- 7%.
Germany
In 2022, 223,699 people from Türkiye applied to Germany's diplomatic missions in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir for Schengen visas. But more than 48,000 of these applications were rejected, and rate of refusal exceeded 21%, almost double than that in 2019.
More than 253,000 applications were made to German diplomatic missions in 2019, and the number of rejections was recorded as 30,823, which is 12.1%.
Greece
After Germany, the country to which Turks made the most visa applications was Greece in 2022.
As many as 164,829 applications were made to the diplomatic missions of Greece in Ankara, Edirne, Istanbul and Izmir. Of these, 15,913 were rejected, and the rate of rejection was 9.65%.
In 2019, Athens rejected 6,359 out of 148,551 applications, and the percentage of visa denials was 4.2%.
France
France turned down 115,114, or 13.4% of visa applications from Türkiye last year.
In 2019, the figure was 143,478, or 6.3%. Hence, the visa refusal rate doubled compared to 2019.
Italy, one of the countries with the lowest rejection rate
In 2022, 87,648 Schengen visa applications were made to the diplomatic missions of Italy in Türkiye. Of these, 6,259 applicants, or 7%, were unable to obtain visa.
The figure was recorded as 6% in 2019.
The Netherlands
Last year, 48,807 applications were made to the diplomatic missions of the Netherlands. Of these, 9,714, or 19.90% of the applications, failed to acquire a visa. In 2019, the visa refusal rate was 15.6%.
According to the Embassy of the Netherlands in Ankara, 30,114 visa applications were made from Türkiye in the first five months of this year, and the rejection rate was 12%.
Most of these refusal decisions were made due to missing documents, the mission said.
Spain
In 2022, 27,664 visa applications were made from Türkiye to the diplomatic missions of Spain. Of these, 2,837 were rejected, with Spain being one of the least rejecting countries, with a 10% refusal rate. However, the figure was 4.3% in 2019.
The Spanish Embassy in Ankara said more than 16,000 visa applications were approved in Türkiye in the first five months of 2023, while nearly 10% of requests were rejected.
Hungary
Some 19,531 applications were made from Türkiye to the diplomatic representations of Hungary in 2022 and 2,366 of them were rejected, which is 12%. The percentage was 11 in 2019.
The rejection rates of other Schengen Area countries in 2022 are as follows:
Latvia (33%), Lithuania (24%), Austria (20%), Czechia (18%), Malta (15%), Switzerland (15%), Slovenia (15 %), Portugal (11%), Poland (10%), Slovakia (9 %) and Luxembourg (7 %).
