a minute agoKosovars pay millions of euros annually for Schengen visas
Periskopi(7 years ago)
(7 years ago)Waiting for visa liberalisation, Kosovo citizens continue to spend millions of euros from their annual Schengen visa pocket. Figures show that only in 2018, when many believed that the Schengen Zone would finally open its wings to Kosovars who wanted to visit member states, Kosovars actually [...]
The figures show that in 2018 alone, when many believed that the Schengen Zone would finally open up arms to Kosovars who wanted to visit member states, Kosovars actually spent about 3m euros to receive one. And much of this money was wasted because of the number of visa rejections.
According to statistics published by VisaWorld. Guide, European embassies in Kosovo accepted 90,840 Schengen visa applications in 2018. 21.6% of these applications received negative answers, which is a much higher percentage than the average of 9.6% for all countries in the world.
Furthermore, even those who made visas, a large part of them received permission to visit only a part of Schengen. While a Schengen visa allows one to travel through the 26th states of this area, visas with limited territorial validity allow the traveler to visit only a limited number of these states.
In 2018, 63,424 Kosovars who resulted in success with their visa application actually received visas with limited territorial validity. For years, Schengen states issue visas with limited validity to Kosovars. Last year, more than half of this kind of visas issued by these countries were for Kosovars.
While African states also receive very little of this kind of Schengen visa, the main reason they are issued to Kosovars in large numbers is because of some of the member states that have not yet recognised Kosovo as independent.
According to statistics, the number of Kosovars applying for Schengen visa in recent years is like the following:
) In 2018, 90,840 Kosovars applied for Schengen visas.
) In 2017, 90,475 Kosovars applied for Schengen visas.
) In 2016, 77,796 Kosovars applied for Schengen visas.
) In 2015, 80,173 Kosovars applied for Schengen visas.
) In 2014, 74,285 Kosovars applied for Schengen visas.
Although the normal price for a Schengen visa is 60 euros, due to agreements with the EU with Kosovars pay only 35 euros for an application for some of Schengen states. The 60-euro fee is made only for visas issued by Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Iceland, Italy, Latifa, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.
Children under 6 years of age, and some other categories are free of this payment. Considering that price, Kosovars paid at least 3m euros in 2018 alone.
