Foreign residents in the UAE who need to obtain a Schengen visa to be permitted entry into the Schengen Area have been informed that there are almost no available appointment slots in the next two months.
According to travel agents, most of the Schengen visa appointments are booked until at least the second week of August, with only a few slots available for Greece in the third week of July, Schengen.News reports.
While Greece has some available appointments, the senior manager at Wisefox Tourism, Subair Thekepurathvalappil, said that due to the very high demand, these slots are very hard to get, Khaleej Times explains.
There are no appointments for any country at the moment. Only a few limited slots are available for Greece in the third week of July, but even those are hard to get. With the current delays, the summer holidays will be over by the time people get their visas.
As travel agents revealed, the majority of the member states are seeing increased numbers of applications from UAE foreign residents. Italy and France are the top choices, with the consular services of these two countries recording a significant number of applications.
On the other hand, some Scandinavian countries reportedly have more available appointments, but since they are not very sought-after destinations during the summer months, fewer travellers are choosing them.
Due to the high demand, the member states are reportedly experiencing delays in processing the applications. To avoid delays and a last-minute change of plans, UAE foreign residents have been advised to either apply well ahead of time for a Schengen visa or consider alternative destinations.
UAE Foreign Residents Filed Over 260,000 Schengen Visa Applications in 2024
UAE passport holders enjoy visa-free entry to the Schengen Area for short stays as the country has a visa liberalisation agreement in place with the EU. The case is not the same for UAE foreign residents whose country of nationality does not have such an agreement.
The most recent statistics published by SchengenVisaInfo show that foreigners residing in the UAE submitted a total of 260,229 Schengen visa applications in 2024. Of the total number of applicants, 196,109 of them had their visas issued, while 61,738 of them had their applications denied.
The top three member states that granted the highest number of Schengen visas to UAE foreign residents in 2024 are Germany, France, and the Netherlands.
Figures show that Germany accepted 32,956 visa applications from UAE foreign residents and granted 23,399 Schengen visas to them last year.
France and the Netherlands followed, with the countries seeing 28,778 and 29,473 applications and granting 23,093 and 22,427 Schengen visas, respectively, to UAE foreign nationals in 2024.