Number of Schengen Visa Applications in Bangladesh Marked 160% Increase

The announcement has been made through a statement published by VFS Global’s South Asian COO (Chief Operating Officer) Prabuddha Sen, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

There has been a significant increase in the number of Bangladeshi citizens wishing to travel to other countries.

According to the data provided by VFS Global, the volume of visa applications has surged compared to the first nine months of last year, while stressing that visa applications rose by 160 per cent until September 2022.

The data also revealed that visa applications’ volume in 2022 was the same as in the pre-pandemic period.

The number of Bangladeshi citizens who attempted to reach European countries in an unlawful way through the Central Mediterranean route was also high. According to a previous report of Frontex, a total of 25,164 irregular crossings were registered in the first six months of this year through the Central Mediterranean route, while the majority of them were citizens of Bangladesh.

The Coronavirus and its new strains spread led governments in countries worldwide to impose strict entry rules in order to halt a surge in the number of infections, imposing travel restrictions and other bans. However, at present, a large number of countries worldwide lifted the travel restrictions, thus leading to an increase in the number of visa applications after many embassies and consulates resumed their work.

A previous report provided by AtoZSerwisPlus.com revealed that the number of Schengen visa applications at the Schengen Visa embassies and consulates in countries worldwide decreased by 83 per cent last year compared to the pre-pandemic figures.

The same revealed that the number of visa applications last year compared to 2019 was even deeper compared to the difference in the number of applications filed in the first year of the pandemic, 2020, and 2019, during which 82.7 per cent fewer applications were filed.

In this regard, the founder of AtoZSerwisplus.com, Besart Bajrami, said that the reason behind the decrease in the number of visa applications is that even last year, the majority of Schengen Zone countries refused to reopen their border to the majority of third-country nationals.

“Even in countries that reopened borders in 2021, there were so many changes every week on who can enter and who cannot, which restrictions and changes discouraged travellers, and in particular tourists, from planning a trip to the EU, and thus from applying for a Schengen Visa,” Bajrami pointed out in this regard.