In order to avoid missing opportunities and frequently changing their travel plans due to lengthy Schengen visa interviews, applicants are looking for alternatives at other embassies where, in their opinion, the process is quicker and simpler.

Applicants who engage in visa shopping typically omit or provide false information about their primary destination or travel objective. The Schengen nations view this as illegal, and individuals who do so run the danger of having their entry into the Schengen Area rejected.

The visa shopping phenomena is still very common among travelers, nonetheless, as it is more convenient for applicants to apply at the embassies of some Schengen countries and to avoid lengthy appointment wait times.

Several applicants admit to doing visa shopping in order to avoid lengthy wait times and because of the certainty
For EU Helpers, some Schengen visa applicants who wished to remain anonymous confirmed that they had engaged in visa shopping in the past and had not ruled out doing so in the future if it made sense.

B.R. explained why he and his family decided to engage in visa shopping for EU Helpers, noting that it was simpler and quicker to get appointments at the Polish Embassy after applying for a Poland Schengen Visa than it was to travel to other Schengen Area nations.

B.R. stated that he was aware of the dangers of shopping for visas. He and his family, however, decided not to adhere to the Schengen visa regulations as they would have had to change all of their travel arrangements to spend the majority of their authorized days of stay in Poland.

The same applicant for a Schengen visa admitted that his decision to search for visas had negative effects since when he reapplied at the same embassy, the embassy only issued them visas good for seven days, not the year they had anticipated.

M.A., a different Schengen visa applicant who acknowledged having done so in the past, told EU Helpers that he was aware of the dangers but still chose to shop for visas since he was confident the nation for which he submitted an application would grant him one.

M.A. further mentioned that, despite the possibility of being refused entrance, he will continue to do visa shopping in the future if it is more convenient for him.

However, a different applicant with the initials R.E. said that she had chosen to shop for a visa since she had not yet made up her mind about which nation she would be visiting.

R.E. told EU Helpers that she was unable to plan her full trip because there weren't many Schengen visa appointments available for her travel dates. Instead, she only chose to apply for a German visa.

Knowing the risks and drawbacks, R.E. declared she would not partake in visa shopping in the future. She emphasized that she would make arrangements in advance and then apply for a visa in the nation where she intended to travel and spend the most of her time inside the allotted 180-day period.

Others who responded in a similar manner noted that the strong demand over the summer and winter had made it challenging to schedule an appointment.

But not everyone is aware of the dangers. The Estonian Embassy emphasized that anyone who engage in visa shopping risk facing serious repercussions, ranging from visa denial to expulsion from the EU and being forced to return home.

The Swiss Embassy cautions that individuals engaging in visa shopping may have their entry requests denied when they arrive.
According to the spokeswoman for the Swiss Embassy in India and Bhutan, the embassy issues visas in accordance with the Visa Code, advising everyone to apply for a visa in the nation where they want to travel to or remain the longest.

In addition, in response to the visa shopping phenomena, the spokesperson warned SVI that anyone breaking the law could have their access to Switzerland revoked at the border.

The embassy has around 800 daily appointments through the end of September, according to the spokesman when asked about the steps the embassy has done to resolve the issue of few appointments.

The same emphasized that 144,479 Schengen visa applications were processed from January through July at the Swiss Embassy in India, which is higher than they processed in 2019.

The spokeswoman also emphasized that the embassy has boosted its total capacity in India and added that as part of the initiatives to address the issue, the embassy now accepts applications up to six months before the travel date.

The spokeswoman concluded by saying that the embassy's decision on requests for Schengen visas is made in no more than 13 working days.

The three countries with the most Schengen visa applications last year were France, Spain, and Germany.
Despite the fact that Schengen visas are issued by all 27 Schengen nations, data from Schengen Visa Statistics indicates that France, Spain, and Germany got the most applications in 2017.

France had 1,918,515 Schengen visa applications overall in 2022, followed by Spain (1,197,457) and Germany (1,043,297), according to SVI Statistics.

Despite not having the lowest rejection rates, these three nations still saw a large number of applications.

Data has showed that some Schengen Member States have lower rejection rates than others, despite the fact that all of them must adhere to the same standards while processing applications.

Iceland, Lithuania, and Latvia were the top three nations in 2022 with the lowest rates of visa refusal, making them the easiest to obtain a visa for.

The rejection rates for Iceland, Lithuania, and Latvia were 1.9%, 7.8%, and 9.5% respectively, in the previous year.

In addition to the aforementioned nations, Slovakia, Finland, Luxembourg, Poland, Switzerland, Greece, and Italy are included in the top 10 nations for whom it is simplest to obtain a Schengen visa.

Malta, Sweden, Belgium, and France, on the other hand, had the highest refusal percentages in 2022, making it more challenging to obtain a visa from any of these nations.