LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-African nationals seeking entry to the European Union will face increased visa fees starting Tuesday, according to Schengen visa statistics released on Saturday.
The report indicates that the fee for a Schengen visa application will rise from €80 to €90.
In 2023, the EU earned €3.4 million from rejected Schengen visa applications submitted by Nigerian citizens alone.
African nationals received 704,000 negative responses for their visa requests.
“This means that €56.3m went up in smoke, considering that visa application fees are not refundable,” it stated.
The report highlighted that the high number of rejected visa applications has led African nationals to spend millions annually, with these fees, termed ‘reverse remittances,’ benefiting only the EU countries.
READ ALSO: African Economies Growth Not Enough To Fight Poverty –World Bank
“African nationals spent €56.3m in visa application fees in 2023, representing 43 per cent of all expenses; rejection rates in 2023 were especially high for African and Asian countries, which bear 90 per cent of all expenses. Expenditures are to increase by 12.5 per cent starting next week as the EU raises visa fees for adults from €80 to €90 on 11 June, following a recent decision by the EU Commission,” it added.
Algeria had the highest number of rejected applications in 2023, accounting for 23.5 percent of all rejected application and expenses.
The country also had the second-highest number of rejected applications, with 289,000 out of 704,000, accounting for 42.3 percent of all requests.
“This nationality group is especially impacted by visa rejections because it has high application rates and they are affected economically when placing visa applications” the report added.
The report also revealed that Moroccans, who were the leading African visa applicants for the year, experienced the highest number of visa rejections.
“A total of 437,000 visa requests filed by this nationality group were rejected in 2023, representing 62 per cent of the total. As per expenses, Moroccans spent €10.9m on rejected visa applications in 2023,” the report indicated.
The report highlighted the significant financial burden on Africans, noting that most African countries have some of the lowest wages in the world.
Africans accounted for 43.1 percent of all fees generated from rejected visa applications in 2023.
A study by EU Observer found that Schengen visa rejections generated €130 million in 2023.
“In the previous year, this amount stood at €105m, showing an upward trend of Schengen visa expenses as well as rejection rates,” the report stated.
The founder of LAGO Collective, Marta Foresti, said, “Visa inequality has very tangible consequences and the world’s poorest pay the price. You can think of the costs of rejected visas as ‘reverse remittances’, money flowing from poor to rich countries. We never hear about these costs when discussing aid or migration, it is time to change that.”