If you are considering visiting Schengen zone, you might want to check these 6 Easiest Countries to Apply for Schengen Visa. During last year, almost 17 million people from around the world applied for Schengen visa, out of which a little more than one million were refused. The overall 5.1 refusal rate within Schengen zone isn’t as high as one might expect, but the latest terrorist attacks in Europe will most likely push Schengen states toward adopting more restrictive policy on granting visas. Currently, Belgium is the country with the toughest policy with refusal rate 16.9. Unlike Belgium, countries on our list declined very small percent of applicants, as you will soon see.
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All Schengen countries require more or less the same documents for visa application, including application form, passport sized photos, copies of previous visas and travel tickets, travel medical insurance. However, some embassies might require additional documents depending on applicant’s country of residence. Moreover, different types of Schengen visa are issued for different purposes, so depending on why you want to visit specific country you might get tourist, student, business, working or transit visa. Each of these five visa types requires submitting additional documents, and one of the most important is proof of your financial ability to cover travel expenses. In case you can not provide proof of having enough funds for the trip, you can ask relatives or friends from the Schengen state you are visiting to submit “official affidavit of support”. Most Schengen countries have set reference amounts of money which you must have prior to entering the country. For instance, Greece requires from applicants to have 20 euros per day, while Germany has set the amount at 45 euros per day.
Finally, when applying for Schengen visa you have multiple options – you can apply for uniform visa, which is used by greatest percent of applicants, limited territorial validity visas, which is granted in exceptional circumstances, and national visa, under which you can work or study in Schengen state. Uniform visa allows you to spend maximum of 90 days every six month period within Schengen zone, and if you are planning to travel across the zone and visit different countries, you will need multiple entry uniform visa for which you apply at consulate of the country which is your first destination. The general visa fee is 60 Euros, but nationals of some countries which have Visa Facilitation Agreements pay 35 euros. Traveling under multiple entry uniform visa is a good way to get to know Schengen states, and in case you start considering moving to one of them, you can check our list 10 Easiest Countries to Gain Citizenship in EU.
Initially, we planned to create the list 6 Easiest Countries to Apply for Schengen Visa using as criteria processing application time and the number of required documents. However, one state might require different documents depending on the location of its consulate. Moreover, although all Schengen states say that processing time is 15 days, it may last much longer depending on visa type and the location of consulate where request is submitted. So we decided to create this ranking using data from European Commission on a number of applicants who didn’t get the visa. We created the refusal rate by countries for 2012, 2013, and 2014, which we compared to create this ranking.
6. Luxembourg
Refusal rate 2014 – 2.1; Rank – 9
Refusal rate 2013 – 0.74; Rank – 1
Refusal rate 2012 – 1.7; Rank – 8
Overall rank: 6
In 2013, Luxembourg refused only 84 applicants, and it was the country with lowest refusal rate within Schengen zone. In last two years, the majority of applicants came from Russia, China, and India. However, Turkish nationals are most often denied the visa – in 2013 almost one-third of all refused applicants submitted application in Turkey.
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5. Slovakia
Refusal rate 2014 – 1.6; Rank – 6
Refusal rate 2013 – 1.1; Rank – 5
Refusal rate 2012 – 1.2; Rank – 5
Overall rank: 5.3
In last two years the number of Schengen visa application for Slovakia dropped by almost 30 percent. The majority of visa requests were made in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, and these were also three countries with the greatest refusal rates.
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4. Finland
Refusal rate 2014 – 1.0; Rank – 4
Refusal rate 2013 – 1.0; Rank – 4
Refusal rate 2012 – 1.3; Rank – 6
Overall rank: 4.6
Every year millions of requests for Schengen visa for Finland are made in Russia. For instance, in 2013, more than one and a half million applications were submitted in Russia, which isn’t the surprise since you only need a ferry ride to get from Helsinki to St Petersburg. With so great number of applicants, it is no wonder that Russia is also the country with the greatest number of refusals.
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3. Iceland
Refusal rate 2014 – 0.9; Rank – 3
Refusal rate 2013 – 1.2; Rank – 7
Refusal rate 2012 – 0.9; Rank – 2
Overall rank: 4
The third on our list 6 Easiest Countries to Apply for Schengen Visa, Iceland, receives a small number of visa applications compared to other countries from our list. In last three years, the number of applicants has been steadily increasing, and in 2014, 3.923 people wanted to enter the state under Schengen visa. It is interesting that applicants submitted application in only two countries: Russia and Chine.
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2. Lithuania
Refusal rate 2014 – 0.9; Rank – 2
Refusal rate 2013 – 0.9; Rank – 3
Refusal rate 2012 – 0.9; Rank – 3
Overall rank: 2.6
As you might expect, the majority of visa applicants for Lithuania come from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. However, the greatest number of refused applications were made in two other former Soviet Union states: Georgia and Armenia.
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1. Latvia
Refusal rate 2014 – 0.7; Rank – 1
Refusal rate 2013 – 0.8; Rank – 2
Refusal rate rank in 2012 – 0.8; Rank – 1
Overall rank: 1.3
Latvia is first on our list 6 Easiest Countries to Apply for Schengen Visa. In 2012 and 2014 it had the lowest refusal rates, and in 2013 it was second by the percent of declined visa applications. Once again, the greatest number of visa application were made in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
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