High Schengen Visa Rejection Rates Jeopardize Doing Business in EU for Turkish Exporters

Different businesses are highly concerned about not being able to carry out their activities and participate in the international market since the majority of Schengen visa issuing countries have a very limited number of appointment slots.

Additionally, those who have available appointment slots are either taking a long time to process them or are rejecting the applications, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

Türkiye has already submitted a report on the rejection rates for Turkish applicants to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

>> Turkey Appeals to Council of Europe for the Soaring Schengen Visa Rejections

The report shows that the number of visa refusals to Turkish nationals increased from 4 per cent in 2014 to 12,7 per cent in 2020. Additionally, the report claimed that the European Union countries were asking for too many unnecessary documents, they were turning the direct application into a hassle, and the charges for visa application were too high.

“It has been observed in some of the implementations that states in the Schengen Area have been denying access to their lands. States in the Schengen Area need to use the Schengen Information System in a joint standard,” a part of the report submitted by Ziya Altunyaldiz from Justice and Development Party (AKP) said.

Schengen visa statistics show that the refusal rate of Turkish nationals visa applications reached over 19 per cent in 2021, up from 13.78 per cent registered in 2020.

It has been approximated that the refusals of Schengen visas have cost Turkish citizens around €26 million in the last five years, while the EU countries received over €315 million from Turkish nationals spending time there.

Data show that Germany has the highest rejection rate for Turkish businesspeople. Moreover, it was noted that Germany is processing visas slower than before. During the pre-pandemic period, Germany would take around ten working days to process a visa, whereas now, the country is taking at least 15 working days to do so.

While Germany has a high rejection rate, it has been explained that France has a very limited number of appointments.

Previously, MEPs said that Türkiye is not ready for accessions negotiations due to the lack of alignment with the EU standards and international law. MEPs pointed out that the country has not marked much progress despite reclaiming that it wishes to become an EU member state.