South Africa Had One of the Lowest Schengen Visa Rejection Rates in Africa in 2022 at Only 5.2%

Key Takeaways

  • Out of 165,893 visa applicants from South Africa, 8,644 were rejected, representing a share of 5.2 percent.
  • South Africa is among the African countries with the lowest rejection rates, falling only behind Botswana and Mauritius.
  • Germany, Italy and France were top destinations for South African applicants, with 47.7 percent of applications being filed to their embassies.

Around 8,644 Schengen visa applications submitted by South African applicants were rejected compared to 155,455 issued visas. The rejection rate among these applicants is concluded to be 5.2 percent of all applications, which is one of the lowest, especially compared to other African applicants.

According to Schengen statistics, Germany, Italy and France were South Africans’ top destinations, with 79,261 or 47.7 per cent of all applications being submitted to the embassies of these three countries, VisaGuide.World reports.

More specifically, Germany and Italy compete to be the main recipients of Schengen visa applications filed by South Africans in 2022. Germany topped the list only because of five more applications than Italy – 26,735 applications compared to 26,730, while France followed third with 25,796 applications.

Out of all three, Italy had the lowest rejection rate – 1,200 denied visas, accounting for 4.5 percent of all requests, while Germany had the highest rejection rate – 7.5 percent or 1,999 rejected applications. In addition, 5.4 percent of applications to France were rejected, accounting for 1,389 requests.

South Africa Is Among Countries With Fewest Visa Rejections in African Continent

Botswana, Mauritius and South Africa are the African countries with fewer rejections for 2022. Authorities have rejected 35 applications from Botswana, accounting for 3.1 percent of all applications filed.

In addition, 4.5 percent of applicants from Mauritius were rejected, accounting for 28 rejections. The rates are higher for South African applicants – 5.2 percent of all applications, accounting for 8,644 requests.

Namibia and Zimbabwe follow with rejection rates of 7.1 and 8.1 percent, accounting for 320 and 487 applications, respectively.

On the other hand, Algeria (45.8 percent) and Guinea-Bissau (45.2) have the highest rejection rates for the year, accounting for 179,409 and 3,611 denied applications.

Czechia Had the Highest Rejection Rates for South African Applicants

A total of 186 visas were rejected by Czech authorities, accounting for a ten percent rejection rate overall, while 1,683 visas were issued. Poland also rejected 8.7 percent of applications, accounting for 124 denied rejections.

South Africans were rejected more often than by Spanish authorities, as 6.7 percent of applicants, representing 124 visas, were rejected. On the other hand, Spain was the fifth most common country for South Africans to apply for a visa, with 19,479 received requests, following the Netherlands with 19,619 applicants.

 

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