Nigerians and other African nationals seeking a Schengen Visa to enter the European Union will now have to pay an extra £10, as the visa fee has increased from £80 to £90.
This change will take effect from June 11, 2024, according to the latest data released by Schengen visa statistics over the weekend.
The EU Commission announced that starting June 11, Nigerians and other African nationals will need to pay £90 for the visa application fee. In 2023, African nationals faced 704,000 negative responses to their visa requests, spending a total of €56.3 million on non-refundable visa application fees.
“This means that €56.3 million went up in smoke, considering that visa application fees are not refundable,” the report stated.
For Nigeria specifically, the report revealed that 636 applications, or 34.80 percent, out of 1,825 were rejected. This resulted in EU countries receiving €3.4 million from rejected Schengen visa applications submitted by Nigerian citizens.
The report also noted that Morocco had the highest number of Schengen Visa Applications in the year under review.
“African nationals spent €56.3 million in visa application fees in 2023, representing 43 percent of all expenses; rejection rates in 2023 were especially high for African and Asian countries, which bear 90 percent of all expenses. Expenditures are to increase by 12.5 percent starting next week as the EU raises visa fees for adults from €80 to €90 on 11 June, following a recent decision by the EU Commission,” the report added.
