LAHORE – Germany has the highest rate of approval for multiple-entry visas in the Schengen zone comprising 27 European countries.
As per the data available on Schengen Visa Info for the last year, 90 per cent of the approved visa applications were MEVs.
Germany granted 817,307 visas last year and out of these 740,356 were MEVs.
France and Spain, the most visited countries in the Schengen zone, received more applications than Germany but had a lower share of granting MEVs. France received more than two million applications. Out of the total issued visas, only 40 percent were MEVs. Spain issued only 39.3 percent MEVs.
After Germany, Slovenia and Estonia had the highest MEVs issuance rate. Of the total visas issued, Slovenia granted 81.6 percent and Estonia 81.3 percent MEVs. Austria and Italy are also not lagging far behind. Austria issued 79.4 percent and Italy 73.8 percent MEVs.
Iceland is on the bottom of the list with just 5.8 percent share of MEVS in the total approved applications. Similarly, Norway and Sweden granted 33.6 per cent MEVs.
Besides having the highest MEVs rate, Germany also had one of the lowest overall visa rejection rates. Germany had rejected 16.2 percent of applications, lower than the average of Schengen countries which is 17.9 percent.
Malta, Sweden, Belgium and France have the highest rejection rates. Iceland, Lithuania, Finland and Latvia have the lowest overall rejection rates.
MEVs allow entry and exit of the Schengen zone multiple times before the expiry of the visa. Visitors can enter and leave the Schengen zone more than once but without violating the 90/180 rule which means one cannot stay for more than 90 days in a period of 180 days. Depending on the frequency of travel, one can apply for MEV for one year, three years or five years.
