Pakistani nationals filed 76,080 visa applications to Schengen states in 2022, and only a little over half (52.2 percent) received a positive answer. In general, Pakistan has the highest visa rejection rates in Asia, with 30,841 requests being rejected.
Spain was the main recipient of Pakistani applicants, receiving 17,981 requests, while the rejection rate from this country was also high – only 6,480 visas were issued, accounting for 36 percent of all applications, VisaGuide.World reports.
While Spain was a favorite destination for Pakistani applicants, countries like Greece and Hungary received the fewest applicants, 656 and 845, respectively, while only one visa application was filed to Norway embassies in 2022, which was approved.
Schengen Visa Applications Cost Pakistanis Over $6 Million in 2022
With a total of 76,080 applications submitted, visa expenses for Pakistani nationals peaked at $6.6 million, taking into account that a visa application costs $87.3 (€80). These expenses are even more elaborate as the visa application process includes more documents than just paying for a visa fee.
Be it as it is, visa application fees are almost impossible to afford for Pakistani nationals, as the country’s national wages, according to CEIC data, peak at $85.6. This means that a visa application for Pakistani nationals costs as much as the average wage, if not more.
The high rejection rates for visa applications filed by Pakistani nationals are even more discouraging, indicating that rejected applications are millions of dollars going up in smoke. With 30,841 rejected visas, Pakistanis pockets emptied by almost $2.7 million in 2022.
Pakistani Applicants Had Highest Rejection Rates When Applying for a Swedish Visa
Swedish authorities rejected 74.7 percent of applications filed by Pakistani nationals in 2022, accounting for 4,360 denied applications compared to 1,496 that were approved.
Spain also had a high rejection rate for Pakistani applicants – only 36 percent of visa requests were approved, accounting for 7,936 issued visas. Belgium was the third country to have the highest rejection for Pakistani applicants – 38.7 percent of applications resulted in positive answers, representing 1,045 visas issued. On the other hand, 1,415 applications were rejected.
On the other hand, countries that were most likely to issue visas to Pakistanis in 2022 were Greece, with an approval rate of 77.7 percent – 99 approved visas from 656 applications, followed by Italy, with 5,747 visas issued and an approval rate of 76.5 percent and Germany with 71.8 percent of applications being approved.
5 EU Countries Received 74.1% of All Visa Applications Filed by Pakistanis
After Spain, Germany received the most visa applications from Pakistanis, a total of 15,688, followed by France (8,959), Italy (7,517), and the Netherlands (6,291).
This means that almost three-quarters (74.1 percent) of all applications filed were submitted to the embassies of these five countries, accounting for 56,436 requests.