Türkiye takes 2nd place in global Schengen visa applications

BRUSSELS

 Türkiye secured its spot as the world’s second-largest source of Schengen visa applications in 2025, trailing only China, according to newly released European Union data.

While the upward trajectory in application volumes persisted last year, there has also been a marginal uptick in rejection rates, the statistics showed. EU data revealed that applications from Türkiye reached 1.2 million in 2025.

With this figure, Türkiye secured the second spot behind China, which led the global tally with 1.8 million applications. India followed closely in third place, recording 1.1 million submissions.

Out of the total applications lodged from Türkiye in 2025, more than 1 million were approved. Notably, 736,556 of these successful applications resulted in multiple-entry visas.

These figures indicated that the Schengen visa rejection rate for Turkish applicants stood at 14.6 percent in 2025.

The EU’s 2025 statistical breakdown highlighted Greece as the primary destination for Schengen visa requests from Turkish citizens.

Greece received 310,920 visa applications from Türkiye last year, marking a distinct increase from the 296,377 applications recorded in 2024.

Germany followed as the second most sought-after destination, receiving 217,627 applications.

Resolving access bottlenecks and securing visa-free travel for its citizens remain top priorities on Türkiye’s agenda with the EU.

However, systemic and practical hurdles regarding Schengen visa access continue to persist on the ground. Intermediary visa-processing agencies remain a focal point of ongoing operational friction.

Given the prolonged stalemate in the visa-liberalization dialogue, both Brussels and Ankara have increasingly pivoted toward pragmatic, interim solutions.

Consequently, the EU Commission enacted a resolution last year establishing a “Cascade” system for multiple-entry visas. Under this framework, applicants who demonstrate compliant visa usage will benefit from a progressive increase in the validity period of their subsequent visas.

Türkiye has recently intensified its efforts toward securing visa facilitation measures for its citizens as an interim step until progress can be achieved in the broader visa-liberalization dialogue.

The visa exemption process between Türkiye and the European Union has been at a standstill for years. The primary catalyst for this prolonged stalemate is Ankara’s outstanding fulfillment of six of the 72 benchmarks required for the exemption, criteria that Türkiye had previously agreed to implement.

For its part, the EU side continues to issue statements indicating that it remains receptive to diplomatic dialogue in this domain.