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Why are so many Turks facing Schengen visa rejections?

 Many Turks miss job and education opportunities, are unable to visit friends and family abroad or jet off on vacation in Europe recently, as refusal rates for Schengen visas have increased almost five fold since 2014.

A 23-year-old Turkish woman faced “complete disappointment” when she was rejected a visa to enter the Netherlands in July after working tirelessly to earn a spot at her dream internship.


She is one of countless Turkish students whose hopes of studying abroad or interning at a company in Europe are being crushed by a staggering increase in Schengen visa rejections.


The student, who requested anonymity as her appeal is still in process, tells TRT World that she believes the European Union (EU) countries are “punishing” Türkiye by shutting their doors to Turkish nationals due to unjustified concerns.


“The visa issue seems to have turned into a weapon in their hands, and they do not hesitate to victimise Turkish citizens,” she says. 


Schengen visa refusal rates for Turkish nationals have spiked almost fivefold since 2014, according to Schengen visa statistics.


In 2021, at least 239,099 people from Türkiye applied for a form of Schengen visa and 30,444 were rejected, at a refusal rate of over 16.5 percent compared to 4 percent in 2014. 


According to a report submitted by Türkiye to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), EU countries are deliberately complicating the visa process.


Turks have reported facing long queues for limited application slots, high application fees that are non-refundable and longer processing times due to higher scrutiny.


Most of the countries also do not have available appointment slots and those who do are either taking a long time to process applications or simply rejecting them, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.


Of the 26 Schengen countries, Finland was the most likely to reject applicants from Türkiye in 2021 at 39.45 percent, followed by Norway at 38.4 percent, the Netherlands at a rate of 26.7 percent and Sweden at 26.2 percent.


Content Courtesy: https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/why-are-so-many-turks-facing-schengen-visa-rejections-60951

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