Applicants submitted 262,017 requests for Austrian Schengen visas in 2024. That is 2.24 per cent of the 11.7 million applications that were filed to member states for Schengen visas last year.
According to statistics published by SchengenVisaInfoout of the total number of applicants, Austria approved around 86 per cent of the visa applications it received, accounting for 224,747 approved visas, Schengen.News reports.
On the other hand, 35,817 applications were rejected, revealing that about 14 per cent of visa applications received a negative response. In total, Austria is the eighth country with the most visa applications received.
Revealed: Top Applicants for Austrian Visas in 2024
The majority of applicants for Austrian visas came from five countries – 157,641 applications in total, representing 60 per cent of the total.
These are the countries of origin for Austrian visa applicants for 2024:
- China – applicants filed 51,761 visa applications, representing nearly 20 per cent of all visa requests Austria received.
- India – 43,504 visa applications, accounting for 16.6 per cent of the total.
- Saudi Arabia – 24,782 visa applications, representing 9.4 per cent of the total.
- Türkiye – 23,171 visa applications, accounting for 8.8 per cent of the total.
- Thailand – 14,423 visa applications, representing 5.5 per cent of the total.
However, in terms of approval rates, some countries emerge at the top, with Austrian authorities granting more visas to them compared to others.
The five countries with the highest visa approval rates are as follows:
- Taiwan – 100 per cent of visa applications were approved, resulting in 174 visas issued
- Ireland, foreigners who applied for Schengen visas as Irish citizens do not need a Schengen visa to enter the zone – 99.51 per cent of visa applications were approved, resulting in 1,215 visas issued
- Indonesia – 99.02 per cent, resulting in 4,126 out of 4,167 visas being issued.
- Thailand – 98.29 per cent, resulting in 14,177 out of 14,423 visas being issued.
- Australia, foreigners who applied for Schengen visas as Irish citizens do not need a Schengen visa to enter the zone – 98.27 per cent, resulting in 4,603 out of 4,684 visas being issued.
Austria Generated Over €22.2 Million From Visa Application Fees in 2024
Austria received 262,017 applications, generating about €22.2 million from fees alone. The costs of Schengen visa applications increased from €80 to €90 by June 2024. For this reason, in our calculations, we have estimated expenses at an average of €85.
Out of the total amount of €22.2 million, over €3 million was generated from rejected visa applications, which represent about 13.7 per cent of all applications – 35,817 out of 262,017.
As per nationalities that were most affected by rejection rates, Pakistanis had the highest rejection rates for Austrian Schengen visas, as 83.55 per cent of their applications were rejected.
The second to follow are Syrians with 50.84 per cent of their applications being rejected, followed by Senegalese (50.65 per cent), Ethiopians (41.8 per cent), and Moroccans (41.17 per cent).