Nationals from Turkiye were the second group for most Schengen visa applications filed in 2024, with over 1.1 million visa requests being submitted during this period.
According to statistics published by SchengenVisaInfoafter the Chinese, who filed over 1.7 million Schengen visa applications, Turkish nationals are listed second, with their visa application rates being 11.1 per cent higher than in 2023, Schengen.News reports.
Historically, Greece and Germany have been two of the main destinations for applicants from Turkiye and 2024 data make no exception. However, when it comes to countries with higher visa approval rates for Turkish applicants, there have been changes throughout the years.
Greece & Germany Among Top Issuers
Out of 1.1 million visa applications that Turkish applicants filed in 2024, about 75 per cent were filed to the following countries:
- Greece received 296,377 visa applications from Turkish applicants in 2024, representing 25.24 per cent of the total visa requests this nationality group filed.
- Germany received 215,506 visa applications, accounting for 18.36 per cent of the total.
- France received 151,640 visa applications, representing 12.92 per cent of the total.
- Italy received 117,432 visa applications, accounting for ten per cent of the total.
- The Netherlands received 97,006 visa applications, representing 8.26 per cent of the total.
The same countries granted most visas to this nationality group, with Greece issuing 264,312 Schengen visas to applicants from Turkiye while Germany granted 170,260 visas. France follows with 129,947 visas issued, while Italy and the Netherlands follow, with 106,193 and 84,240 Schengen visas granted, respectively.
However, Turkish nationals were likely to have their visas issued by other countries, such as Romania, which had one of the highest visa approvals for this nationality group.
In 2024, these three countries had higher visa approval rates for Turkish nationals, meaning that they were more likely to issue positive decisions for visas submitted by applicants from Turkiye:
- Romania received 15,458 visa applications from Turkish nationals in 2024, 14,764 of which were approved. Visa approval rates for Turkish nationals were 95.51 per cent.
- Slovakia received 2,941, 93.3 per cent (2,744) of which were approved.
- Portugal received 2,163, 91.3 per cent (1,975) of which were approved.
5 Countries With the Highest Schengen Visa Rejection Rates for Turkish Nationals in 2024
Applicants from Turkiye did not have the best chances to have their visa application approved if they applied in certain countries, which, despite quite high application rates, did not approve many visa applications filed from this nationality group.
The five countries that were likely to reject visas for Turkish applicants in 2024 include Denmark, which rejected 35 per cent of visa applications that this nationality group filed in 2024 – 3,664 rejected visas out of 10,561 applications.
Lithuania followed with 31.5 per cent rejection rates (960 rejected visas out of 3,044 applications), while Estonia was third for the highest rejection rates, 600 out of 2,006 applications.
Sweden and Croatia are the fourth and fifth countries with the highest rejection rates for Turkish nationals, rejecting 5,422 (out of 18,160 applications – 29.86 per cent rejection rates) and 1,315 visas, respectively. In total, Turkish nationals filed 4,655 visa applications for Croatian Schengen visas, 28.25 per cent of which were rejected.