Georgians' Schengen Visa Applications Declined by 70% in 2017

Schengen Visa Info, one of the largest, fastest, independent Schengen Visa-related information and news publishing websites in the world, has published the latest results on Georgian Schengen visa applications. Let’s have a look how it stands from their research.

Three-fourths fewer Georgians are said to have applied for a Schengen visa in 2017 than in the previous year, as shown by the official Schengen visa statistics released by SchengenVisaInfo.com.

Georgians have been able to travel to the Schengen zone without needing to get a visa ahead of time since the EU removed the visa requirements in March 2017. The effect of this move came fast, seeing the number of Schengen visa applications take a huge down-turn.

In 2016, 106,024 Georgians applied for a Schengen uniform visa while in the past year, this number dropped to just 23,354 applications. Among all the consulates, the Embassy of The Netherlands rejected the largest portion of applications, though it was in second place in the list of countries whose embassies received the largest number of applications in Georgia.

In 2017, SchengenVisaInfo.com claims the German consulate in the capital of Tbilisi received 4,444 Schengen uniform visa applications. The total number of uniform visas granted by them was 4,063. 29.7% of these, or 1,208, were Multiple Entry (MEV) visas. 371 (8.3%) of uniform visa applications were rejected. Ten successful applicants received a Limited Territorial Validity (LTV) visa.

The Netherlands Embassy had also a large number of applicants in 2017, but far fewer than it had the previous year. 4,348 Georgians made a Schengen uniform visa application during the past year but, in contrast to the German Embassy, The Netherlands consulate was highly reluctant to issue Schengen visas, granting just 3,095 uniform visas. MEVs made up more than half of these (55.6% or 1,721 MEV visas granted). Yet, in comparison with every other listed consulate, the Dutch embassy rejected the highest number of visa applications in Tbilisi. 1,179 Georgians that applied to this consulate received a negative response, maintaining a portion of 27.1% of the total uniform visa applications.

Italy was the third country with the highest number of Schengen uniform visa applications in Georgia. 2,910 applications were sent to the Italian Embassy and 2,543 of these were awarded a uniform visa. 722 (28.4%) of these successful applicants were granted an MEV visa. The Italian Embassy rejected 367 uniform visa applications, 12.6% of the total uniform visa applications.

• 70% fewer Schengen visa applications by Georgian citizens in 2017

• The German Embassy granted the highest number of Schengen visas to Georgians

• The Netherlands rejected the highest number of Schengen visa applicants in Georgia

Only three embassies received less than a thousand Schengen uniform visa applications: Poland, Estonia and Switzerland.

At the Swiss consulate, 650 Georgians submitted a visa application and 581 of them were granted one. With 147 of the total issued visas, MEV visa holders shared a quarter of the total grants (25.3%). 66 uniform visa applicants failed to get their visa, meaning a 10.2% rate of refusal.

SchengenVisaInfo.com is one of the largest, fastest, independent Schengen Visa related information and news publishing websites in the world.

For over 5 years, it has been following and reporting on policy changes about the Schengen zone and is now the leading source of information with over 18 million annual readers who rely on it to get information.