Europe rejected 21 thousand visa applications from Bangladeshis

Muhammad Shakawat Hossain (Shakawat Liton)

For various reasons, applications for visas to Schengen countries in Europe have been rejected for almost 21 thousand Bangladeshi applicants.

This makes Bangladesh the second highest country for rejected visa applications, with Comoros, an African nation, taking the first spot. These applications were made last year, in 2024.

This information was reported on Tuesday by the European news outlet - Schengen News.

The report states that the highest number of visa rejections was for citizens of Comoros, followed closely by citizens of Bangladesh and Pakistan.

According to data from Schengen Visa Info, the visa applications of 1,754 citizens of Comoros were rejected in 2024. Of the 2,853 applicants from that country, this accounts for 62.8 percent of total applications. In comparison, 39,345 applications for Schengen visas were made from Bangladesh last year, of which 20,957 were rejected, resulting in a rejection rate of 54.90 percent.

On the other hand, out of the 78,362 applications from Pakistanis, 35,139 were rejected, which is 47.5 percent of the total applications.

The organization stated that in 2023, 41,317 Bangladeshis applied for visas, of which 17,015 were rejected. The rejection rate that year was 42.8 percent. Compared to 2023, the rate of rejected applications has increased further last year instead of decreasing.

Meanwhile, according to this organization's statistics, Sweden has rejected the highest number of visas for Bangladeshis among Schengen countries. Austria has rejected the highest number of visas for Pakistanis. And the citizens of Comoros had the highest rejection of visas by France, one of the largest countries in Europe.