Number of multiple-entry Schengen visas issued to Russian citizens halved last year, compared to 2022

MOSCOW. May 16 (Interfax) - Russian tourists filed over 520,000 applications for Schengen visas in 2023, 10.6% of the applications were declined, and the share of multiple-entry visas was halved, according to statistical data from the European Commission.

Russian citizens filed a total of 520,000 applications for Schengen visas in 2023, down 24% from 2022 (687,000), and visas were issued to 448,800 applicants.

Over 54,000 applications were turned down. The European Commission estimated the share of denied visas at 10.6%, which was practically the same percentage as in 2020 (10.2%). Yet the share has grown more than seven-fold, compared to the pre-pandemic year 2019, when around 1.5% of visa applications filed in Russia were declined.

Only 49%, or 220,900 visas issued to Russian applicants were multi-entry. The number was halved since 2022, when 439,000 multi-entry visas were issued and their share amounted to 72%.

More than 10.3 million applications for Schengen visas were submitted worldwide in 2023, the European Commission said. Visas were issued to 8.49 million applicants, and the share of denied visas stood at 16%, down almost 2% since 2022. The share of multi-entry visas issued worldwide stood at 54%.

The bulk of applications were filed in China (1.1 million), followed by Turkey (1 million), India (966,000), Morocco (591,000), and Russia.

Other members of the top ten are Algeria, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.

African countries, Pakistan, Syria and Sri Lanka had the highest percentage of declined visas, 35% to 50%, in 2023.