Planning a Europe trip this summer but wondering what are the chances of getting a Schengen visa? There is an easy hack! Apply through countries with the lowest rejection rates for Indian travellers. Choosing the right embassy can save time, money, and the stress of a visa refusal.
Indian travellers lost nearly ₹136 crore in 2024 on rejected Schengen visa applications, with France topping rejection table with 31,314 denials, followed by Switzerland and Germany. Even as outbound travel has surged past pre-pandemic levels to 3.08 crore departures, VisaVerge study finds the Schengen rejection rate for Indians running at 15 percent owing to appointment backlogs stretching up to six months. As per SchengenVisaInfo.com, India is the 3rd country with the most Schengen visa applications filed in 2024.
Which is easiest Schengen country to get a visa from India?
Among Schengen destinations, Bulgaria recorded the highest approval rate for Indian applicants at 132.87%, while Switzerland has approval rate of 87.98%. Overall, India’s approval rate stood at 0.68% per thousand residents.
Recently, SchengenVisaInfo posted a report analysing a decade of Schengen visa trends for Indian travellers (2014–2024), noting the key patterns such as the countries with the highest and lowest rejection rates. Here’s what the trends say:
- Indian residents filed 1,108,239 visa applications in 2024 (an increase of 14.64% compared to 2023).
- Applicants from India are responsible for 9.52% of all Schengen visa requests submitted globally.
- India is the 3rd country with the most Schengen visa applications filed in 2024.
- Switzerland was the top destination for Indian residents with 217,373 visa applications.
- Lithuania received the least visa applications from India with only 681.
- The Schengen States rejected 165,266 visa applications from India (14.91% rejection rate).
- Malta had the highest non-issuance rate for Indian applicants (48.11%)
- France rejected most visa applications from India (31,314 out of 217,373 visas were rejected).
- India’s rejection rate per thousand residents was 0.12% and approval rate per thousand residents was 0.68%.
- How do Schengen countries decide visa issuance?
- As per the Schengen Statistics, the three main countries that are more likely to issue a Schengen visa are Slovakia, Greece and Switzerland, considering a low rejection rate for visa applications. However, it mostly depends on one’s citizenship.
- Slovakia exhibited a remarkably low visa rejection rate for ten nationalities, whereas Greece had a low rejection rate for nine. Switzerland also approved visa applications from six nationalities.