The practice of applying for a Schengen visa at the consular authorities of a particular country with the intention of travelling to another, also known as “visa shopping”, has become common among applicants due to long waiting times for appointments and convenience.
Prolonged times for Schengen visa appointments are causing applicants to miss opportunities and change their travel plans often, and for this reason, they are seeking alternatives in other embassies in which, according to them, it is faster and easier to obtain a Schengen visa.
When practising visa shopping, applicants generally withhold or give incorrect information regarding their main destination or the purpose of travel. Such a thing is considered illegal by the Schengen countries, with travellers risking being denied entry into the Schengen Area.
However, since it is more convenient for applicants to apply in certain Schengen countries’ embassies and to avoid long waiting times for an appointment, the visa shopping phenomenon continues to remain popular among travellers.
Several Applicants Confirm Having Practiced Visa Shopping to Avoid Long Waiting Times & Due to Certainty
Several Schengen visa applicants who wish to remain anonymous have confirmed for SchengenVisaInfo.com that they have practised visa shopping in the past and have not excluded the possibility of doing the same in the future if they find it more convenient.
Explaining the motives behind choosing to practice visa shopping, B.R. said for SchengenVisaInfo.com that he and his family applied for a Poland Schengen Visa and then travelled to other countries in the Schengen Area since it was easier and faster to secure appointments at the Polish Embassy.
B.R. noted that he was aware of the risks associated with visa shopping. However, since he and his family would have to alter all of their travel plans to spend the majority of their permitted days of stay in Poland, they chose not to follow the Schengen visa rules.
I was aware of the potential disadvantages and risks. The primary visa rule is that you first must travel into the country where you get the visa from, then, you may travel to other countries in the Schengen zone! For myself and my family, it was not that simple to first travel to Poland and then elsewhere! So, we first travelled to other countries.
The same Schengen visa applicant disclosed that his decision to visa shop had consequences, as when he applied again at the same embassy, instead of having visas issued for a year, as he expected, the embassy granted them visas with a validity period of seven days only.
Then I got the punishment. When I applied again for a visa at the same Embassy, they only gave visas for seven days validity!
Another Schengen visa applicant, M.A., who confirmed having visa shopped in the past, said for SchengenVisaInfo.com that he was aware of the risks but still decided to visa shop as he was certain that the country he filed an application for would grant him a visa.
I was planning to travel to Switzerland but applied for a German visa instead since I was certain that the German Embassy would grant me the visa as I had previous visa history with the country.
Additionally, M.A. said that if it is more convenient for him, he will practice visa shopping in the future despite the risk of being denied entry.
On the other hand, another applicant with the initials R.E. said that she decided to visa shop as she had not determined which country to visit yet.
Since the Schengen visa appointments were limited, R.E. told SchengenVisaInfo.com that she was unable to map out her entire travel itinerary and just decided to apply for a German Visa before there were no appointments left for her travel dates.
I applied for a German Schengen Visa, but instead, I travelled to Portugal.
Aware of the disadvantages and risks, R.E. said she would not engage in visa shopping in the future, stressing that she will make plans in advance and then file a visa application in the country she intends to travel and spend most days within the permitted 180-day period.
Indeed, it’s true that applying for a visa in one country and entering another may raise suspicion, in spite of the fact that my intention was tourism. Nevertheless, I will not engage in visa shopping again.
Others have provided similar responses, saying that it has become difficult to make an appointment during the summer and winter due to the high demand.
However, not all are aware of the risks. The Embassy of Estonia stressed that there might be severe consequences for those practicing visa shopping, starting with the refusal of the visa to being retired back home from the EU borders.
Persons Practicing Visa Shopping May Be Refused Entry Upon Arrival, Swiss Embassy Warns
The Embassy of Switzerland in India and Bhutan Spokesperson said that the embassy issues visas in line with the Visa Code, suggesting that everyone should apply for a visa in the country they plan to visit or stay the longest.
Moreover, commenting on the visa shopping phenomenon, the spokesperson told SVI that anyone who violates the rules might be refused entry upon arrival in Switzerland, warning everyone against such practice.
The Embassy of Switzerland in New Delhi issues visas in accordance with the Schengen rules, which allows applicants a visa from the country of their primary/longest stay in the Schengen area. Any person found to be in violation of the aforementioned rules may be off-loaded at the port of departure or refused entry upon arrival in Switzerland.
Regarding the measures that the embassy has taken to address the issue of limited appointments, the spokesperson said that the embassy has almost 800 daily appointments through the end of September.
The same stressed that the Embassy of Switzerland in India has processed more visa applications this year than in 2019 and revealed that from January until July, they handled 144,479 Schengen visa applications.
In addition, the spokesperson further noted that as part of the measures to address the issue, the embassy now accepts applications up to six months before the travel date and emphasised that the embassy has increased its overall capacity in India.
With a new Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Lucknow, there are now 13 VACs all over India where applications can be submitted.
Lastly, the spokesperson said that it takes no more than 13 working days for the embassy to make a decision on Schengen visa applications.
France, Spain & Germany Received Highest Number of Schengen Visa Applications Last Year
While all 27 Schengen countries issue Schengen visas, data provided by Schengen Visa Statistics show that France, Spain, and Germany received the highest number of applications last year.
According to SVI Statistics, France received a total of 1,918,515 Schengen visa applications, Spain received 1,197,457 applications, and Germany received 1,043,297 applications in 2022.
These three countries received a high number of applications despite not being ranked as the ones with the lowest rejection rates.
When it comes to the rejection rates, even though all Schengen Member States have to follow the same rules when processing applications, data has shown that some of them have lower rejection rates.
SVI Statistics data show that Iceland, Lithuania, and Latvia were the top three countries with the lowest visa rejection rates in 2022, meaning that they are the easiest to obtain a visa.
Last year, Iceland had a rejection rate of 1.9 per cent, Lithuania had a rejection rate of 7.8 per cent, and Latvia had a rejection rate of 9.5 per cent.
In addition to the above-mentioned, the list of the top ten easiest countries to obtain a Schengen visa is made up of Slovakia, Finland, Luxembourg, Poland, Switzerland, Greece, and Italy.
In contrast, Malta, Sweden, Belgium, and France had the highest rejection rates in 2022, meaning that it is harder to get a visa from one of these countries.