€16.5M Lost as Turkish Schengen Visas Hit 1.27 Million

Turkish applicants shelled out an estimated €16.5 million in application fees for refused Schengen visas in 2025, a year that saw consulates inside Türkiye field a record 1,268,376 requests.

According to European Commission visa statistics published on May 28, 2026, Türkiye remained the second-largest source of Schengen visa applications worldwide. Out of the total submissions, 1,072,328 visas were issued, while 183,196 applications were rejected, bringing the overall refusal rate to 14.6 per cent. That figure sits just above the 2024 rejection rate of 14.5 per cent, though it marks a steep climb from the 4.4 per cent refusal rate recorded back in 2014.

Where Rejections Hit Hardest

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The risk of a refusal depends heavily on which destination country’s consulate processes the paperwork. Among Schengen countries receiving at least 500 applications from Türkiye, rejection rates varied wildly across member states.

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Destination Country	Rejection Rate
Lithuania	35.5 per cent
Malta	34.9 per cent
Romania	7.4 per cent
Slovakia	6.5 per cent
Portugal	3.5 per cent

Greece remained the top destination for applicants for the third consecutive year, pulling in 24.5 per cent of all submissions originating from Türkiye. Across the board, EU ambassadors and Schengen embassies have pointed to immense application demand, incomplete submissions, forged documents, and third-party intermediaries who block and resell appointment slots as primary drivers of the backlog.

Diplomatic Talks and Structural Adjustments

Turkish officials have pushed back against the bottlenecks. On June 30, 2026, Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with the EU’s High Representative Kaja Kallas and EU Commissioners Marta Kos and Magnus Brunner in Ankara to discuss the ongoing visa liberalisation dialogue, application processing hurdles, and border management cooperation.

These talks follow the EU’s adoption of the “cascade” rules on July 15, 2025, which were designed to offer more favourable terms for Turkish nationals living in Türkiye who have a clean record of lawful travel. Under those rules, travellers who successfully obtain and use two short-stay visas within a three-year window become eligible for multi-entry visas valid for one, three, and eventually five years, though truck drivers are expressly excluded from the arrangement.