Morocco Among Top 10 Countries with Highest Schengen Visa Rejection Rates
Moroccans trying to get visas for Europe are finding it harder, with more applications being turned down. In 2022, Morocco was ranked ninth among countries with the most Schengen visa rejections. This ranking considers how many visas were denied per 100,000 applicants, and Morocco had over 315 rejections on average for every 100,000 applicants. The Schengen Visa Info website, which reports on European visa news, noted that out of the 119,346 Moroccans who applied in 2022, one in four received a rejection.
Cape Verde had the highest rejection rate at 844 rejections per 100,000 applicants, and other countries with high rejection rates included Kosovo, Suriname, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, Algeria, Lebanon, Qatar, and Armenia. This highlights the ongoing challenges that North African citizens face when they want to get visas for Europe. In a related event, in 2021, France made headlines by cutting the number of visas granted to citizens of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria by half. This was because they believed these countries weren’t helping in returning irregular migrants, showing how visa application difficulties can also have diplomatic consequences for migration between North Africa and Europe.