Türkiye’s Schengen Visa-Related Issues to Be On PACE’s Agenda – SchengenVisaInfo.com

The Schengen visa-related issues that citizens of Türkiye have been facing will be part of the General Assembly of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) agenda on October 11.

PACE decided to put the topic on its agenda as nationals of Türkiye have been complaining for some time now over Schengen visa delays as well as high rejection rates, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

The Hürriyet Daily News explains that by seeking visa facilitation to Europe, Türkiye aims to ensure that its citizens will be treated the same as those from other countries.

Commenting on the current situation, Ziya Altunyaldız, who is a member of the Turkish delegation to PACE, said that in case the Schengen area countries continue refusing visas for Turkish nationals at a high rate, they will be violating human rights as well as the right to free movement.

In addition, the same source pointed out that Altunyaldız said that all Schengen-associated countries should have standard and clear regulations on how the visa issuance process works.

Altunyaldız suggested that in cases when applicants miss a particular document, they should be given a period of time to submit it afterward and not reject their application immediately. According to Altunyaldız, applicants should be allowed this much since they are paying for these services.

Previously, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that visa cancellation for Turkish citizens by the Schengen Area consulates and embassies reached a top high in 2021. Nonetheless, the Head of the EU to Türkiye Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut said that Schengen visa-related problems are not political nor exclusive to Turkish nationals.

Meyer-Landrut said that in order for Turkish applicants to avoid having their Schengen visa applications rejected, they should make sure to submit all the required documents on time.

Schengen Visa Statistics show that of the total number of visa applications filed in 2021, 16.5 per cent of them were rejected.

Germany rejected the highest number of visa applications filed by Turkish nationals in 2021. Data shows that Germany rejected around 22.2 per cent of the Schengen visa applications in 2021. In the same year, France rejected around 13.1 per cent of the application filed by Turkish nationals. Except for these two, other countries followed a similar pattern too.

Despite the above-mentioned, Turkish nationals have also experienced financial losses when applying for Schengen visas and having their applications rejected.

Last year alone, citizens of Türkiye paid at least €3,601,280 in fees for Schengen visas that they never received.