Türkiye Submits Report to EU Council on Schengen Visa-Related Problems – SchengenVisaInfo.com
The Turkish authorities have submitted a report to the Council of the European Union in an effort to put an end to the issues that citizens of Türkiye have been facing when applying for Schengen visas in one of the European countries.
The report, which is expected to be discussed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) General Assembly next month, was prepared by Ziya Altunyaldız, who serves as a member of the National Assembly of Turkey, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Altunyaldız explained that the report still needs to be accepted and, at the same time, pointed out that when such a thing happens, an effective cooperation mechanism will be established between the countries regarding the Schengen visa issues.
According to Daily Sabah, Altunyaldız noted that a monitoring system would also be established to ensure uniform practices.
“A monitoring system will be established in order to ensure country-based uniform practices. It will be ensured that the Schengen Information System provides more effective, transparent and traceable applications. Steps will be taken to resolve the issue on an international basis,” the statement of Altunyaldız reads.
Turkish citizens have been facing long waiting times and high rejection rates when applying for Schengen visas for some time now. Schengen Visa Statistics show that in 2021, Turkish nationals filed a total of 271,977 applications, of which 16.5 per cent of them got rejected.
The increase in the rejection rate has been the highest in the last two years despite the low number of applications filed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Countries that receive the highest number of applications have been the ones that have increased the rejection rates in recent years.
For example, Germany rejected around 22,2 per cent of the visa applications filed by citizens of Türkiye in 2021. Such numbers are way higher compared to 2018 when only around 11.9 per cent of the applications were rejected.
Commenting on the matter, the editor-in-chief at SchengenVisaInfo.com, Shkurta Januzi, told Reuters last month that “Türkiye’s rejection rate growth is way bigger and consistent”.
Nonetheless, despite the long waiting times and the high rejection rates, the EU Ambassador in Türkiye said that Schengen visa-related problems are not political nor exclusive to Turkish nationals.
Previously, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that Turkish citizens paid at least €3.6 million last year in fees for Schengen visas that got rejected. The money paid for visa applications has been and will be rejected for the rest of this year is also expected to be high.
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