Consulates, which are scattered around the world, represent their respective Schengen states and handle visa applications for them.
According to statistics published by SchengenVisaInfothe number of visa applications that a consulate can handle varies between very few and 200,000, with certain destinations being more popular than others, Schengen.News reports.
In 2024, Schengen states have received a total of 11.7 million applications for visas. Countries that received the most visa applications were France, Spain, and Germany, while countries of origin or nationalities with the highest number of visa requests were applicants from China, Türkiye, and India.
These 3 Consulates Accounted for 5.1% of All Visa Applications Consulates Received in 2024
The number one consulate with the highest number of visa applicants was the Swiss consulate located in New Delhi, India. This consulate received a total of 217,373 visa applications from Indian nationals and foreigners living in the country.
That comes as no surprise, considering that Indians were the third nationality group with the most visa applications for 2024. As per approval rates, 87.9 per cent of visa applications that were received by the Swiss consulate were approved, resulting in over 191,000 visas granted.
The consulate of France in Algiers, Algeria, is second, receiving 197,868 applications in 2024. About 69 per cent of the visa applications that this consulate received were approved, accounting for 137,166 visas granted to Algerian applicants in 2024.
The third consulate with the most Schengen visa applications for the year was the Greek one in Istanbul, Türkiye, with 183,156 applications, out of which 161,037 applications were approved.
Consulates With the Highest Schengen Visa Approval Rates in 2024 Revealed
The three consulates that had the highest approval rates, in terms of having the highest number of visa requests approved in proportion to application rates, include the following:
- The Swiss consulate in Sydney, Australia – approval rates were 99.85 per, indicating that 1,297 out of 1,299 applications were approved.
- The Italian consulate in Minsk, Belarus – approval rates reached 99.75 per cent. That means that 49,588 out of 49,712 visa applications were approved, leaving only 124 rejected visa applications.
- The Italian consulate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (the United States) – about 2,146 visa applications were received by this consulate, and 99.67 per cent of them, or 2,139, were approved.
Countries where approval rates for consulates were the highest included the United States, Canada, Japan and Hong Kong, whereas consulates with the lowest approval rates included the Maltese consulate in Algiers (11.3 per cent approval rates), the Austrian consulate in Islamabad, Pakistan (16 per cent) and the Netherlands consulate in Dakar, Senegal (16.5 per cent approval rates).