Turks applied for Schengen visa most in 2022

ANKARA

More than 700,000 Turkish citizens applied for Schengen visa in 2022, placing the country in the first place among the countries with the highest number of visa applications.

Türkiye surpassed Russia in the number of applications and pushed it back to second place for the first time in history, according to the Schengen Visa Statistics data released last week.

More than 220,000 applications were made at the German embassy, consulates and visa centers by Turks last year. Greek and French representatives followed with around 160,000 and France with 110,000 applications, respectively.

The number of Turkish citizens applying for a Schengen visa decreased by 14 percent, from 900,000 to around 780,000.

“One of the most important reasons for Türkiye to rank first is not the increase in the number of Turkish applicants, but the dramatic decrease in the number of Russian applicants caused by the sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine,” Besart Bajrami, the founder of SchengenVisaInfo, explained the change.

Russia may fall further behind the table this year if the war continues, he added.

Bajrami cited China’s implementation of strict COVID rules during the pandemic, especially in the tourism sector, and preventing its own citizens from traveling abroad as one of the reasons for Türkiye’s rise to first place.

Noting that the loosening of the rules in China could change the ranking this year, he said that Türkiye could thus fall to the second rank next year.

Although the total number of applicants exceeded 7.5 million last year, considering that nearly 17 million applications in 2019, the total rate decreased by 55 percent.

Schengen refers to the EU passport-free zone that covers most European countries, the largest free travel area in the world. A Schengen visa is a short-stay visa that allows a person to stay up to 90 days for tourism or business purposes.