119,000 Moroccan Applications for Schengen Visa Were Rejected in 2022

Rabat – Morocco features among the top five Arab countries in terms of Schengen visa rejections, according to the data compiled by Visa Schengen Info, the website specializing in news and statistics on Schengen visas.

Specifically, the website documented that more than 119,000 applications were rejected for Moroccan citizens in 2022, with a rejection rate of over 15%. At the top of the visa rejection list in the Arab world was Algeria, with more than 179,000 rejections and a rate of nearly 46%.

Tunisia saw more than 48,000 of its citizens’ applications rejected, with a rate of about 29%.

Meanwhile, Emirati nationals had more than 42,000 applications rejected, while more than from Egyptian Schengen visa seekers got rejected.

In sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria registered a visa rejection rate of nearly 46% as more than 39,000 applications submitted by Nigerian citizens were rejected.

Overall, the website indicated that the rejection rates in 2022 increased compared to 2021.

The ten countries included in the list spent about 64 million euros last year on more than 804,000 rejected visas compared to 2021.

Schengen Visa Info shared data with Morocco World News that shows that Moroccans spent $10.50 million on Schengen visa applications in 2022.

“Many African travelers face complex procedures, lengthy waiting times, and also high rates of visa denials,” the website noted.
Several Moroccan associations and organizations recently criticized French consular authorities for treating Moroccan visa seekers in treating Moroccan applicants unfairly and in a degrading manner.

In a joint declaration released earlier this year, the Moroccan League for the Defense of Human Rights and the Moroccan Forum of Young Journalists, among others, raised Concerns regarding appointment delays for visas as well as the rejection of many Moroccan applications.

Also mentioned in the joint statement were the failure of France’s consular services to offer applicants a channel for appealing a visa denial as well as issues with the outsourcing of administrative services to private operators.

In particular, the statement criticized France’s “obsession with migration and its desire to put pressure on migrants and their countries of origin.”