A British migration consultancy company has explained the high rejection rate for Schengen Visa applications made by Africans.
In its Global Mobility July Report, Henley and Partners attributed the high rejection rate to two main factors including concerns about overstaying and the economic state of most African countries.
The report detailed that most European countries were always concerned about whether the applicants would return to their home country once their visas expired.
Henley and Partners added that most European countries often found it difficult to force someone to return home owing to the anticipated backlash.
Therefore, to avoid such scenarios, most countries in Europe would insist that the applicant demonstrates that they intend to return to their host countries.
The countries listed with high visa denials were; Malta, Norway, Slovenia, Estonia, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, France, Portugal, and Denmark.
"Officially, visa rejections are often attributed to doubts about applicants’ intention to leave the destination country before the visa expires.
"According to European states, most rejections are based on reasonable doubts about the visa applicants’ intention to return home," read the report in part.
On the other hand, it was noted that the economy of a country also contributed to visa rejections.
The London-based firm added that the economy of a country is often tied to the ability of the applicants to return after their visit.
"With an elastic concept such as this, the Schengen visa regime, and likely other visa regimes of most middle- and high-income countries, allows immigration officials in the embassies and consulates housed in the Global South to effectively filter visa applicants based on their economic conditions and country of origin.
"Due to these key factors, some European countries, such as Ireland, that had visa-free arrangements for South African and Botswana passport holders have now revoked these arrangements to curb asylum seekers from poorer countries," read the statement in part.
Kenya is among the African countries that lead in Schengen Visa applicants. For instance, in 2023, there were 56,187 visa applications from Kenya.
Between 2020 and 2022 there were 68,161 visa applications. According to Schengen News, the rejection rate of visa applications made by Kenyans in 2022 was 24 per cent.
