Kazakhstan ranks 16th globally in Schengen visa applications
Kazakhstan ranked 16th in the world for the number of Schengen visa applications submitted in 2024, according to data released by SchengenVisaInfo, Kazinform News Agency reports.
Kazakh residents filed 179,446 visa applications to Schengen countries this year, reflecting a 12.8% increase compared to 2023. These accounted for 1.54% of all applications submitted globally.
Within Central Asia, Kazakhstan led by a significant margin, while citizens of Uzbekistan submitted 58,700 applications, Kyrgyzstan - 28,000, Turkmenistan - 7,800, and Tajikistan - 4,000.
Germany received the most amount of requests for visa, at 25% of all submissions, or 45,094 applications. Italy and Spain followed with 15% and 13%, respectively. The Netherlands recorded the fewest applications from Kazakhstan, with only 20.
The overall Schengen visa rejection rate for applicants from Kazakhstan stood at 8.99% last year, one of the highest in recent years, with Croatia leading the highest rejection rate for Kazakh nationals at 81.57%.
Earlier, it was reported that the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament has reached a provisional agreement on the phased launch of the new Entry/Exit System (EES), which will digitize the registration of non-EU nationals entering and exiting the Schengen area.
