Schengen visa rejections cost Indians Rs 154 crore despite record applications

Indian citizens filed over 1.15 million Schengen visa applications in 2025, making India the world's third-largest outbound travel market. Driven by rapid economic growth and an expanding middle class, Indian citizens' spending on travel has driven an unprecedented growth in the global tourism sector.However, for the modern Indian traveller, the cost of a holiday now starts long before takeoff, and it comes with no guarantees. The recent data released by the European Commission (EC) show a surge in the rejection rate for Schengen visa applications of Indians at 15.8%, exceeding the global average of 14.6% in recent years.This means that over 1,81,000 applicants were rejected last year, leaving a trail of shattered holiday plans and a massive financial drain on the applicants.VISA REJECTION TRENDS FOR INDIAN APPLICANTSAs each short-stay visa application carries a mandatory administrative fee, that amount is retained by the consulate even if a visa application is refused. With an average cost of €90 per application, India spent approximately Rs 154.9 crore in 2025 on non-refundable fees. This has made India’s financial losses from visa rejections, the second-highest in the world.This amount does not factor other costs spent by Indians on mandatory travel insurance, flight reservations, and courier services. If added, this sum would easily double or even triple the total financial loss incurred by the Indian travellers. The sunk cost traces itself back to recurring and structural failure points that show up across almost every report on the subject.WHY ARE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES REFUSING VISA?Acquiring a Schengen visa has presented many hurdles such as rigid compliance standards, structural appointment backlogs, and intense profile scrutiny for Indian applicants.Countries including France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany and Greece have noted the highest rejection in Indian applications as per the EC data.“After the budget-friendly and closer to home Middle East and Southeast Asia, Europe has been top of the list for Indian globetrotters with its varied attractions, including Switzerland, Greece, Amsterdam, France and others. We are now seeing a rising trend of sports tourism with a significant number of Indians going to watch matches there,” said Rajesh Magow, co-founder and group CEO at MakeMyTrip.The Schengen visa system is suggested to act as a corporate-style gatekeeper, as observed in the Global Mobility Report by Henley & Partners. It mainly uses automated algorithms and socio-economic profiling to evaluate the applicants.While European countries state that rejections are purely based on individual paperwork errors, the report highlights a systemic pattern. A weak passport ranking and stricter risk-scoring reinforce each other with increasing rejection rates for India. This means Indian travellers have fewer choices to plan easy, no-visa trips.At the same time, foreign governments are using stricter criteria to flag and reject applicants they think might overstay or break rules. For instance, officers now cross-reference average monthly balances and historical tax filings to assess the financial profile of the applicant.(Disclaimer: The views, opinions, recommendations, and suggestions expressed by experts/brokerages in this article are their own and do not reflect the views of the India Today Group. It is advisable to consult a qualified broker or financial advisor before making any actual investment or trading choices.)- EndsPublished By: Radhika VermaPublished On: Aug 6, 2026 17:24 IST