Refused Schengen visa applications cost Moroccans dearly

Schengen visas pose many problems for travelers wishing to enter the Schengen area. The high cost of visa applications, intermediaries and the complexity of document collection are all factors that make this step unattainable for travelers. In 2021, the refusal of many visa applications resulted in high costs for applicants. Statistics from shengenvisainfo.com show that nationals of several countries have spent large sums of money on refused visa applications.

Read also:

• Reasons for refusing Schengen visas (France, Spain, etc.) and how to avoid them.
• France Schengen visa application rejected? Here is the procedure for appealing against refusal.

The high cost of applying for a Schengen visa

The costs associated with applying for a Schengen visa can be considerable for applicants. The visa fee of €80 per person is only part of the equation. In addition to the visa fee, travelers often have to pay intermediaries to help them complete their visa application, as well as fees for collecting the required documents.

In addition to visa fees and intermediaries, applicants have to pay for the documents required to apply, travel insurance, hotel reservations and flights with non-refundable charges. According to Besart Bajrami, it is difficult to calculate the total amount spent in 2021, but it would be at least 3 million euros.

Morocco, the country most affected by Schengen visa refusals

Morocco is the fifth country in the world with the highest number of Schengen visa applications in 2021, after Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia. However, it is also the country with the highest refusal rate, with 27.6% of the total. rejected requests. This situation has a significant financial impact on Moroccans, who have to pay non-refundable visa fees for visas they never obtained.

France, the country that refuses the most visas to Moroccans

Schengen visa statistics show that France is the country that refuses the most visas to Moroccans. Of the 58,310 visa applications received in 2021, France refused 20,369, or 35%. By contrast, the Spanish embassy in Morocco refused 15,137 of the 84,499 Schengen visa applications it received, or 18%.

Immigration figures for France in 2022

In 2022, France issued 1.7 million visas, compared with 733,070 in 2021, an increase of 137.1%. The number remains lower than the total visas issued before the health crisis in 2019, which was 3.5 million visas. Over 2.3 million visa applications were received in 2022, and 500,000 were refused. Migration flows also increased, with 320,330 first residence permits issued. First permits issued increased by almost 17% compared with 2021, with student permits accounting for the largest number of permits issued. As for asylum, 156,103 applications were made, an increase of 28.6% compared with 2021. Finally, the number of naturalizations fell by 16.3% in 2022 compared with 2021, with a total of 78,711 people acquiring French nationality.

Read also:

• Reasons for refusing Schengen visas (France, Spain, etc.) and how to avoid them.
• France Schengen visa application rejected? Here is the procedure for appealing against refusal.