This is a deeply worrying trend for African applicants to the Schengen Area. Because of high visa denial rates, they are incurring huge financial losses. Just in 2024 so far, African countries have lost about 60 million euros – about $67.5 million – in non-refundable rejected visa fees. This serves as a painful reminder that there are systemic obstacles in the visa application process that disproportionately impact applicants from the continent.
Hundreds of people have come forward to tell their stories of denied visas. Their stories reveal the emotional and financial toll these choices take. Joel Anyaegbu, for example, was refused his visa to go to Barcelona at the end of last year. Despite reapplying, he encountered difficulties. The Spanish consulate in Lagos then returned his passport to him with a checklist. This opened the floodgates with questions on how transparent the application process is.
Jean Mboulé— of which the case —example, born in France to Cameroonian parents The application pressures expose more holes in the system In 2022, he faced the same fate after applying for a Schengen visa. He submitted documentation directly comparable to his wife’s, whose application was approved successfully. This gap represents a particularly unsettling trend by which applicants are subject to discrimination, fostering immense frustration and bewilderment.
High Rejection Rates and Financial Impact
At the same time, rejection rates for Schengen visas among African applicants are shockingly high. Countries like Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria speak of rejection rates between 40% and 50%. This makes it a huge barrier for many who are looking for more accessible opportunities to travel, work, or study in Europe.
For just Nigerians, the fiscal costs are mind boggling. In 2024, they lost more than 4.5 million euros (about $5 million) in fees from rejected visa applications. Beyond the courts, this loss gets felt most acutely by individuals. It drives a terrible pattern, where African applicants overwhelmingly subsidize European embassies with these charges.
London-based artistic and research organization LAGO Collective has been bringing attention to this problem. They’ve tracked a 13.5% rise in the expense of contested visas. The combined economic burden totaled £50.7 million, or $68.8 million in 2024. With prices surging across the board, the risk for people is higher than ever. Instead, they’re forced to wade through a convoluted and unnecessarily convoluted process.
Legal Action and Advocacy
Against this backdrop, a handful of these applicants have sued to challenge their visa denials. Meet Julius Musimeenta, a 57-year-old Ugandan engineer, whose story is one of overcoming adversity. Musimeenta’s Schengen visa application to attend an engineering recruitment fair in Munich was denied by the French embassy in Johannesburg. He lamented, among other things, that the denial was “pantingly thin” and “monstrously inconclusive.”
Unwilling to accept this ruling, he took the case all the way to French courts and eventually won. The court then ordered the French embassy to reissue him his visa. They are condemned to pay him the sum of 1,200 euros as reparations for the discriminatory refusal. His case serves as an example of how advocacy and legal recourse can lead to positive outcomes for individuals facing unjust barriers.
In April 2021, Musimeenta declared victory in an important legal battle with tangible personal rewards. This victory brings overdue attention to the need for widespread reform to the visa application process. It focuses strongly on the need for accountability and transparency in embassies’ treatment of applications from African nationals.
Systemic Issues and Calls for Reform
In reality, African visa applicants experience hardship unimaginable to most in the West. These challenges underscore systemic flaws within the Schengen visa process that require immediate rectification. Almost all applicants feel that the criteria with which their applications are evaluated, if any are shared at all, are inconsistent and not transparent. These examples of people being denied visas even when they have provided the required proof of eligibility create a troubling picture of arbitrary injustice within the system.
As of 1 July 2024, schengen visa fees increased from €80 to €90. Applicants are now left to wonder if that investment is truly worth it, particularly in light of the series of rejections they often receive. People and nations are traumatized by such profound economic damage. These challenges are fueling immediate calls for reform in the processing and evaluation of retaliatory visa applications.
The damage done by these rejections goes beyond lost fare revenue. It’s their effect on the intimate lives and aspirations of millions of Africans wishing to visit family, study or undertake professional development in Europe that resonates most. Advocates have long demanded stronger standards in consistency and fairness when adjudicating visa applications. They care deeply about all applicants being treated fairly and equally.
