Turkish nationals, one of the leading groups for Schengen visa applications in the last decade, have finally seen an increase in visa approvals.
According to statistics published by SchengenVisaInfoTurks were granted over 993,000 visas in 2024 out of 1.1 million applications that were filed. This means that 84.66 per cent of visa applications filed by Turkish nationals in 2024 were approved, Schengen.News reports.
The visa rejection rates for Turkish applicants have been a longstanding issue, which has been discussed many times with the EU Commission, as Turkiye was dedicated to obtaining visa liberalisation with the EU.
Visa Approval Rates for Turkish Applicants Were Up by Almost 2.5% in 2024
Data from 2023 reveals that Turkish applicants filed over one million visa applications. Out of this total, 867,646 were approved, resulting in approval rates of 82.17 per cent. That is a 2.49 per cent difference in visa approval rates compared to 2024.
Consequently, rejection rates for Turkish applicants dropped in this one-year period, as the not issued rate for visas in 2023 was 16.05 per cent. In 2024, rejection rates dropped to 14.50 per cent.
However, the share of multiple-entry visas was affected during this period, dropping from 70.63 per cent in 2023 to 65 per cent in the following year. This means that while Turkish nationals were granted more visas in 2024 than they were before, those visas were most likely to be single-entry visas.
Regardless, in 2023, Schengen states granted Turkish nationals 612,841 multiple entry visas, while in 2024, this number rose to 645,583, which, in proportion to the visa applications in total, was 1.55 per cent less.
Greece Emerges as Top Destination for Turkish Nationals for the 2nd Year in a Row
In the last two years, Greece has come up as the most popular destination for Turkish visa applicants, as this country was the top recipient.
In 2024, Greece received 296,377 visa applications from Turkish applicants, which is the highest number of applications this nationality filed for the year. In total, Greece received 25.2 per cent of all visa requests that Turkish nationals submitted in 2024.
Moreover, Turkish nationals were the top applicants for Schengen visas in Greece, filing about 41.7 per cent of the 710,024 visas that authorities in Greece received in 2024. Germany was the second-most popular destination, receiving 215,506 or 18.3 per cent of all visa requests submitted by Turkish nationals.