During 2017, Greece embassies rejected a total of 39,969 Schengen visa applications, marking an increase by 46% of visa denials compared to the previous year, reports.
According to the official statistics covering Schengen uniform visa statistics, Greece is clearly amongst the most popular destinations for incoming visitors, particularly because of its tourism potential.
Last year, Greece embassies collected 1,029,564 uniform visa applications, which in percentage terms represented 6% of the total Schengen uniform visa applications recorded in 2017. As such, in terms of Schengen visa applications load Greece was listed as the fifth most popular destination among Schengen countries after France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
But, while the number of uniform visa applications is slowly increasing from year to year, official figures reveal that visa denials at Greece embassies are increasing at a more rapid rate. In 2017, these embassies denied 39,969 uniform visa applications which accounted for 3.9% of all applications recorded during the year.
On the other hand, in 2016 Greece embassies rejected 27,359 uniform visa applications which accounted for 2.8% of total visa applications collected during that year. This is to say, between 2016 and 2017 visa denials at Greece embassies increased largely by 46%.
In absolute numbers, Greece embassies rejected the largest number of applications to Iranian applicants. A total of 5,034 applicants out of 10,725 or 46.9% Iranian citizens that applied for a Schengen visa to Greece were denied a visa. In percentage terms, applicants from the Republic of Congo had the highest rate of visa denials. According to the official statistics, 518 out of 755 applicants in Kongo were rejected a Schengen visa from the Greece embassies.
Other countries whose citizens were most denied by Greece embassies are shown in the table below
Country
|
Uniform visa application
|
Uniform visa not issued
|
Share of total applications
|
Russia
|
532,453
|
5,227
|
1.0%
|
Iran
|
10,725
|
5,034
|
46.9%
|
Turkey
|
199,341
|
4,685
|
2.4%
|
India
|
32,134
|
4,235
|
13.2%
|
Nigeria
|
3,373
|
1,841
|
54.6%
|
Russian applicants, as traditionally, continue to share the largest portion of visa applicants at Greece embassies. As of 2017, 532,453 citizens of the Russian Federation were seeking to get a Schengen visa in one of the Greece embassies located in cities of Moscow, Novorossisk and Petersburg. Compared to the total application load during 2017, Russian citizens shared 51.7% of all applicants.
Similarly, they were amongst the applicants with the highest number of visa denials. Out of all 532,453 applications in Russia, a number of 5,227 of them were denied a visa.
