According to Schengen statistics more Kenyans applied for Schengen visas in 2022 compared to neighbouring East African countries.
According to the report, at least 48,892 Kenyans made the application, spending about Ksh618.5 million (€3.9 million ).
"The majority of applications filed by this nationality received a positive response," the report stated.
Schengen visa allows the holder to travel to any member of the Euro area and stay up to 90 days for tourism or business. It is the largest free travel area in the world.
Some member countries include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Applications from Kenya doubled the second country Ethiopia that registered 21,099 requests.
Kenyans spent 18 per cent of their salary on visa application, with the average wage being Ksh830,740 (€5,237) annually or Ksh69,162 (€436 ) monthly.
Compared to other East African countries, Kenya had the third highest rate of visas issued per 100,000 people with 65 getting visas.
Comoros and Djibouti had the highest rates of 206 and 248 respectively.
Further, the data revealed Kenyans applied to go were Sweden(12,973), Spain(4,216), Netherlands (2,832), and Italy (3,790).
In all the East African region, 153,757 applications were made in 2022 with a rejection rate of 21.8 per cent representing 35,297 applicants.
Other countries were Mozambique (16,177), Madagascar (15,027), Uganda (11,925), Tanzania (10,144), Rwanda (10,112), Zimbabwe (6,017), Djibouti (4,530), Burundi (3,110), Comoros (2,774), Zambia (2,012), Eritrea (1,277) and Mauritius (657).
Kenyans travel abroad for leisure, business, visiting family, sports or cultural events, medical reasons, and school among others.
