The Schengen visa remains one of the most widely used travel permits in the world, giving access to a large part of Europe under a single short-stay system. Every year, millions of applications move through consulates spread across different countries, each handling them in its own way despite shared rules. In 2025, almost 12 million visa applications were processed through EU and Schengen-related embassies and consulates, marking an increase of 1.8% from 2024, when 11.7 million applications were submitted and a growth of 15.5% from 2023, when the number was 10.3 million, as reported by the European Commission. However, despite these demand increases, the number is still far less than the pre-pandemic period of 2019, when it stood at 17 million.
However, over 10 million visas were granted in 2025, which means 3% more visas than in 2024 (9.7 million), but still 50% less than the number of visas issued in 2019 (15 million). No changes in the average rejection rate of the application (it equals 14.8%). Visa refusal trends differed greatly from one country to another. In some countries, the number of approvals increased – for instance, Russia (+6.4%), Algeria (+31%), and Ethiopia (+34%), and in others, it dropped significantly, for example, Senegal (-51.9%), Burundi (-53.4%), and Congo (-40.1%).
