A Schengen visa is an entry permit for non-EU nationals to make a short, temporary visit of up to 90 days in any 180-day period to a country in the Schengen area.
It should be noted that Schengen area comprises of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Schengen visas are issued in three main categories:
- Single-entry visa: Permits one-time entry into the Schengen Area.
- Multiple-entry visa: Allows repeated visits within the visa’s validity period.
- Airport transit visa: Enables travelers to transit through the international zone of a Schengen airport without entering the Schengen Area. This visa does not permit exit from the transit area.
In 2024, over 11.7 million applications for Schengen visas were submitted—an increase of 13.4% from 2023’s 10.3 million, according to data reported by VisaGuide.World. Visa rejections also rose, climbing from 1.6 million in 2023 to more than 1.7 million in 2024—a 4.5% increase.
Applicants should be aware of countries with high rejection rates, as per European Commission statistics. The top countries most likely to reject Schengen visa applications in 2024 were:
- Malta: 38.5% rejection rate (16,905 out of 45,578 applications)
- Estonia: 27.2% (3,291 of 12,125)
- Belgium: 24.6% (61,724 of 255,564)
- Slovenia: 24.5% (4,417 of 18,171)
- Sweden: 24.0% (44,576 of 188,623)
- Denmark: 23.7% (31,013 of 132,158)
- Croatia: 19.3% (8,003 of 42,165)
- Poland: 17.2% (19,277 of 111,538)
- France: 15.8% (481,139 of 3,072,728)
- Czech Republic: 15.8% (23,735 of 150,629)
