In 2023, millions of travelers sought Schengen visas to explore Europe’s cultures. Approval rates for these visas vary significantly among the 27 Schengen countries, influenced by social, cultural, and economic connections.
Data from SchengenVisaInfo highlights the Schengen states most likely to approve visa applications for different nationalities, a valuable insights for potential travelers.
Chinese Citizens: Chinese nationals experienced high approval rates in several Schengen countries. Germany led with a 97.05% approval rate for Chinese applicants, followed by the Netherlands (96.31%), Switzerland (94.78%), Italy (94.02%), and Norway (93.68%).
Turkish Citizens: Turkish passport holders found the highest approval rates in Portugal (93%), Italy (91.08%), Slovakia (88.77%), Poland (86.56%), and Spain (86.50%).
Indian Citizens: Indian nationals, who filed the third-largest number of Schengen visa applications in 2023, saw the highest approval rates from Iceland (95.43%), Germany (89.53%), Switzerland (88.02%), Belgium (85.81%), and Luxembourg (85.79%).
Moroccan Citizens: For Moroccan passport holders, the top countries with the highest approval rates were Switzerland (83.89%), Poland (83.12%), France (81.26%), Portugal (80.05%), and Czechia (75.60%).
Russian Citizens: Russian applicants enjoyed high approval rates with Poland (99.61%), Iceland (97.50%), Slovakia (93.65%), Italy (93.47%), and Czechia (92.58%) leading the list.
Algerian Citizens: Algerian nationals experienced the best approval rates in Czechia (69.06%), France (66.61%), Finland (63.16%), Germany (62.27%), and Switzerland (60.61%).
Saudi Citizens: Saudi nationals saw nearly perfect approval rates, particularly in Slovakia (100%), Switzerland (97.06%), Austria (96.97%), Italy (96.30%), and Spain (94.32%).
UK Residents: UK residents requiring Schengen visas had high success rates in Iceland (98.50%), Czechia (98.35%), Poland (97.18%), the Netherlands (96.37%), and Portugal (96.21%).
Thai Citizens: Thai nationals found favorable approval rates in Austria (97.46%), Switzerland (97.26%), Czechia (96.14%), Italy (96.08%), and Portugal (96.01%).
UAE Residents: Residents of the UAE from countries without visa liberalization agreements experienced high approval rates in Poland (87.45%), Italy (86.45%), Portugal (84.76%), Switzerland (82.01%), and Belgium (81.22%).