In spite of the travel and visa restrictions imposed by a large share of European Union Member States on the Russian Federation in 2022, following the invasion of Ukraine, over 600,000 citizens of Russia have managed to obtain a Schengen Visa in the same year.
Newly released data by Schengen Visa Statistics show that in 2022, the Schengen Area consulates and visa processing centres in Russia accepted a total of 687,239 applications, 603,955 of which received a positive response.
Finland, Spain and Italy accounted for 60 per cent of all visas issued in Russia in the same year, with Italy granting 103,099 visas out of 117,167 applications received, followed by Finland which granted 105,323 visas out of 112,737 applications, and Spain which received 166,893 applications and granted 154,450 Schengen visas.
This means that together, they issued a total of 362,872 visas, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
The number of other countries granting a high number of visas to Russian applicants in 2022 is as follows:
Greece granted 61,840 visas out of 75,830 applications
France – 55,285 out of 64,309 applications
Germany – 38,809 out of 48,895 applications
Hungary – 25,081 out of 27,595 applications
Regarding the number of Russians that received a negative response on their application in 2022, the rejection rate in Russia was at 10.2 per cent, which is quite lower than the average, which is 17.9 per cent.
68,753 applications for a Schengen visa were rejected in Russia in the same year, with 14,036 applications turned down by Italy, 13,015 by Greece, and 9,295 by Germany.
83.3% Fewer Schengen Visa Applications Filed in Russia Compared to 2019
While the number of visa applications filed in Russia has increased by 28 per cent in 2022 compared to 2021, when taking into account 2019, which is the year taken as the basic year for comparison due to the Coronavirus pandemic interrupting the normal flow of travel, there’s been an 83.3 per cent drop in the number of applications filed in Russia.
Commenting on the data, the founder of SchengenVisaInfo.com, Besart Bajrami, notes that the while applications filed in Russia last year have increased following the removal of COVID measures, the restrictions imposed on Russia on the second part of the year and later have had their effect.
“Visa restrictions and entry bans imposed by some countries have jeopardized the recovery of Schengen visa applications in Russia to the pre-pandemic levels,” he says.
Further, Bajrami points out that the measures imposed on Russia have been evident in particular at the Finnish consulate in Saint Petersburg which every year has processed half a million applications. In 2022 the applications fell to just a little over 80 thousand, which is even lower than in 2020, when this consulate processed 97,026 applications.
In 2022, Schengen consulates and visa application centres worldwide processed a total of 7,572,755 short-term visa applications, which is 55 per cent lower than the number of visas processed in 2019.
For the first time in years, Türkiye became the country where the largest number of Schengen visa applications were received (778,409), overcoming Russia, which is now listed second.
