Schengen visa applicants are more frustrated than ever with the increasing rejection rates, calling out on the Schengen countries to stop “mercilessly” refusing their applications.

Sharing their experiences on Twitter, several Schengen visa applicants have complained that their applications have been rejected unfairly, listing all the difficulties they have encountered to apply, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

“I am so sad and angry. I was invited to the Google IO event that will take place in Amsterdam on June 20. We wanted to go as a family and spend five days in the Netherlands. I applied for a Dutch visa on April 25. They waited until June 7 and refused,” a Twitter user called Selin Tunc wrote on June 8.

She further explained that she had been told to appeal within four weeks, but as the date of the event she was planning to attend was approaching, she decided it was not something worth doing.

According to a thread of tweets, the reason presented by the authorities for Tunc’s visa rejection, who is the spouse of an EU national, is that she had not submitted sufficient proof that she is married to her husband, and that there was not strong enough proof that they have a child together, as claimed by the applicant.

Yet, Tunc says that she had provided a marriage certificate, and the birth certificate of the child she has with her spouse, an EU national.

“Since I learned the result yesterday, my eyes are swollen from

crying,” she further wrote.

Tunc is not the only one to experience such a visa rejection. Other applicants have also shared the reasons why they applications were rejected, calling the trend of rejecting visas “mercilessly” unfair.

Meagan Teutsch, a US resident, says her husband, an Indian software engineer at Zillow in Seattle with a Green Card had his Swiss Schengen Visa rejected under claims that “information submitted regarding the justification for the purposes and conditions for the intended stay was not reliable.”

“We provided our letters of invitation, hotels, flights, and everything else so it doesn’t make sense,” she says.

2022 Schengen Visa Statistics released last month show that in the same year, Schengen Member States rejected 17.9 per cent of the 7,572,755 applications for a Schengen visa filed worldwide.

The two countries with the highest number of rejected visas this year were France, with 408,876 rejected applications and Spain, with 227,712 rejected applications. The two were also the countries with the highest number of applications received and visas granted in 2022, followed by Germany.

In the past years, the rejection rates have increased from 8.2 per cent in 2017, to 9.6 per cent in 2018, 9.9 per cent in 2020, 13.6 per cent in 2020, reaching an all-time high of 17.9 per cent in 2022. V.4875

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BEIJING - China said it would gradually raise its statutory retirement age, as the country grapples with a looming demographic crisis and an older population. Hundreds of millions of people in China are set to enter old age in the coming decades while the birth rate dwindles dramatically. V.5610
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The Western Cape High Court has temporarily stopped the initiation of any process to deport a foreign national who has indicated an intent to apply for asylum, until their application has been finalised. • The Western Cape High Court has temporarily halted the initiation of any process to deport a foreign national who has indicated an intent to apply for asylum, until their application has been finalised. • The interim interdict will remain in place pending the outcome of the main court application brought by the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town. • The court is expected to hear that main challenge in February 2025. V.5612
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South Africa’s plan to attract more professionals to its skills-starved economy through the introduction of a so-called nomad visa for remote workers has been slowed by the need to amend tax regulations. The impediment comes after an initial delay when changes to the visa regime had to be temporarily withdrawn because mandatory public consultation procedures hadn’t been followed. V.5613
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Illegal land occupation has been a very big problem in Pretoria east for decades now, with the evolution of more than two informal settlements, with dwellers being illegal immigrants. Tshwane metro will look to work with Home Affairs to combat illegal land occupation, illegal immigration and theft, according to FF Plus councillor and MMC for community safety in Tshwane, Grandi Theunissen. V.5607
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The City of Tshwane’s fight against hijacking of inner-city buildings could soon take a new turn aimed at deporting illegal immigrants likely to be found guilty of invading those properties. This comes after MMC for Community Safety, Grandi Theunissen, also FF Plus councillor, indicated that the municipality and the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, agreed to join hands in addressing the problem. V.5608
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The departments of Home Affairs and Basic Education deployed mobile units to 1 625 school nationwide to assist young people in rural areas. The Department of Home Affairs is on a drive to assist young people get their IDs. In partnership with the Department of Basic Education, mobile units have scoured the nation’s schools to provide DHA services. V.5603
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South Africa is set to simplify travel for Indian tourists by introducing a 90-day visa waiver starting in January 2025. Along with the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme, these initiatives aim to streamline the visa process and boost tourism significantly. Great news for travelers from India and China! South Africa is taking significant steps to attract more Indian tourists by introducing a 90-day visa waiver starting in January 2025. The new policy aims to simplify travel for Indian visitors and is expected to increase the number of tourists from India. V.5604
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Kuwait’s Central Agency for Remedying Illegal Residents’ Status (CARIRS) has revoked the citizenship of more than 10,000 people with dual nationality between 2011 and last month, the KUNA news agency has reported. According to the agency, the step is the result of a full decade of Kuwaiti efforts to address the dual nationality file, and comes as a culmination of a campaign that began last year to confront those who obtain Kuwaiti citizenship illegally. V.5605
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