IKV Chairperson Dr. Ayhan Zeytinoğlu issued a statement regarding the 2025 Schengen visa statistics and the challenges faced by Turkish citizens during the visa application process. Dr. Zeytinoğlu stated:

“According to the 2025 data, China ranked first in the number of Schengen visa applications with 1.8 million applications. Türkiye followed with approximately 1.25 million applications, while India ranked third with 1.15 million applications. When these figures are adjusted for population size, a striking picture emerges.

Türkiye’s visa application rate per capita was 11.5 times higher than China’s and 19 times higher than India’s. In other words, 1,500 out of every 100,000 people in Türkiye applied for a Schengen visa, compared to only 130 in China and 78 in India.

Given Türkiye’s status as an EU candidate country, its Customs Union partnership with the EU, and its geographical and cultural proximity to Europe, the high demand for visas is entirely understandable. In fact, travel by Turkish citizens to the EU for tourism, education and business purposes should be encouraged by EU Member States. Instead, however, we are witnessing increasing difficulties and grievances in visa application procedures.

Recent complaints particularly concern the difficulty of securing visa appointments and reports that appointments are being resold by bots and intermediaries at prices far exceeding the standard €90 application fee. There are also numerous cases of applicants who wait months for a response, miss scholarship programmes, award ceremonies or other important events, or receive visa refusals despite having legitimate reasons for travel.

Looking at the statistics, 1.07 million visas were granted out of 1.25 million applications from Türkiye, resulting in a rejection rate of approximately 14.6%. Although the rejection rate has not increased significantly compared to the previous year, it is important to remember that it stood at only 4.4% a decade ago. While some rejections result from incomplete documentation, shortcomings in the guidance provided by intermediary service providers may also play a role. Furthermore, some of the documents requested, particularly from businesspeople, can raise concerns regarding the protection of personal data.

Under the Schengen ‘Cascade’ system, visa validity periods can gradually increase with each successful application, reaching up to five years. However, granting visas of up to ten years to frequent travellers who consistently comply with visa rules and regularly visit the Schengen Area for business, family or tourism purposes would help reduce the excessive workload and congestion in the visa system.

The Cost of Visa Applications

Based on the standard visa application fee of €90, Turkish applicants collectively pay around €115 million each year in visa fees. If application numbers remain stable, this amount would reach €1.15 billion over a ten-year period. In reality, the total cost is much higher. Payments made to intermediaries to secure appointments, premium or VIP services, bank and notary fees for obtaining supporting documents, and additional service charges all significantly increase the financial burden, meaning the real cost is likely at least twice as high.

Visa Liberalisation Should Remain Türkiye’s Objective

Türkiye has been engaged in a visa liberalisation process with the EU since 2013, yet thirteen years later the process remains incomplete. Of the 72 benchmarks required under the Visa Liberalisation Roadmap, Türkiye has fulfilled 66. Completing the remaining six benchmarks should be a priority.

As a candidate country that directs 43% of its exports to the EU and participates in EU programmes such as Erasmus and Horizon, Türkiye should achieve visa liberalisation in order to prevent the difficulties experienced by its citizens and to enable them to benefit more fully from the opportunities associated with its relationship with the European Union.”