Despite the travel and visa restrictions imposed on the Russian Federation by a wide number of European Union Member States in 2022 as a result of the invasion of Ukraine, over 600,000 Russian residents obtained a Schengen Visa in the same year.
According to Schengen Visa Statistics, in 2022, the Schengen Area consulates and visa processing facilities in Russia accepted a total of 687,239 applications, 603,955 of which were approved.
In the same year, Finland, Spain, and Italy accounted for 60% of all visas issued in Russia, with Italy granting 103,099 visas out of 117,167 applications received, Finland granting 105,323 visas out of 112,737 applications, and Spain receiving 166,893 applications and granting 154,450 Schengen visas.
This translates to a total of 362,872 visas issued.
The following countries will issue a large number of visas to Russian applicants in 2022:
Out of 75,830 visa applications, Greece approved 61,840.
France received 55,285 applications out of a total of 64,309 applications.
Germany received 38,809 applications out of a total of 48,895 applications.
Hungary received 25,081 applications out of a total of 27,595 applicants.
In terms of the number of Russians who received a negative response on their application in 2022, the rejection rate in Russia was 10.2 percent, which is significantly lower than the global average of 17.9 percent.
In the same year, Russia denied 68,753 Schengen visa applications, with Italy rejecting 14,036 applications, Greece rejecting 13,015 applications, and Germany rejecting 9,295 applications.
While the number of visa applications filed in Russia increased by 28% in 2022 compared to 2021, when 2019 is used as the baseline year for comparison due to the Coronavirus pandemic disrupting the normal flow of travel, the number of applications filed in Russia decreased by 83.3 percent.
Schengen consulates and visa application centres worldwide processed 7,572,755 short-term visa applications in 2022, a 55% decrease from the number of visas processed in 2019.
For the first time in years, Turkey received the greatest number of Schengen visa applications (778,409), surpassing Russia, which is now ranked second.
By fLEXI tEAM
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