According to the European Commission, in 2024, Russians received 552,629 Schengen visas, which is 20.7% more than in the previous year. The total number of applications from Russian citizens increased by 16.5% and reached 606.6 thousand. These figures allowed Russia to take the 5th place in the world ranking, almost equaling Morocco (the difference was less than 300 applications).
World leaders in the number of Schengen visas
According to the published summary report of the European Commission, in 2024, more than 11.7 million applications for a Schengen visa were submitted worldwide, which exceeds the figures for 2023 by 13.5%. The top five countries were distributed as follows:
- China — 1.8 million applications.
- Turkey — 1.17 million applications.
- India — 1.1 million applications.
- Morocco — 600.8 thousand applications.
- Russia — 600.6 thousand applications.
An important change was the reduction in the percentage of refusals to Russian citizens. If in 2023 10.6% of applications were rejected (54.3 thousand cases), then in 2024 this figure fell to 7.4% (44.9 thousand). Thus, the share of refusals to Russians turned out to be 2 times lower than the global average, which was 14.8%.
At the same time, there is a negative trend towards a reduction in the proportion of multiple-entry visas. Over the year, this figure decreased from 49.2% to 41.3%. Of the 541.8 thousand visas issued, only 224 thousand were multiple-entry.
According to the Association of Russian Tour Operators, 90% of the Schengen visas issued to Russians in 2024 were issued for tourist purposes. This indicates that traveling in Europe remains a priority goal for the majority of applicants from the Russian Federation.
Full statistics on the issuance of Schengen visas to Russians for 2023-2024 can be found on the official website schengenvisainfo.com .
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Journalist, editor with 9 years of experience in investment immigration. I specialize in analysis of residency and tax programs, as well as individual selection of jurisdictions for relocation.
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