Visa rejections by Germany cost Indian applicants €1.3 million last year
A recent report by
Conde Nast Traveller
found that more than 165,000 applications for Schengen visas submitted by Indian citizens were rejected in 2024.
According to the
report
, this amounts to more than €14 million in application fees for rejected visas across the Schengen zone.
With 15,806 reported rejections of Indian Schengen visa applicants, Germany issued the third most rejections after France (31,314) and Switzerland (26,126).
In total, the amount of fees paid to Germany for applications that were ultimately rejected amounted to approximately €1.3 million -- based on an average application cost of €85 for Indian passport holders in 2024.
At the beginning of 2024 the standard Schengen visa fee for adults was €80. It was updated to €90 in mid-June 2024.
After Germany, Spain and the Netherlands both rejected nearly as many Indian visa applicants, with 15,105 and 14,569 rejections respectively.
Which nationalities faced the most rejections?
Visa applicants from Algeria racked up the most rejected applications in 2024, followed by those from Turkey.
India had the third highest number of rejections, followed by Morocco and then China.
According to the
Economic Times
, a relatively high rate of rejections, and the associated financial losses, have raised concerns among travellers.
READ ALSO:
'Germany needs you' - Labour Minister's plea to skilled workers from India
Contesting rejections is set to get harder for travellers applying to Germany
These figures come following a recent announcement that Germany will
scrap its remonstration process for rejected visas
as of July 1st this year.
Until now, visa applicants who faced rejections could submit a remonstrance letter to ask that their application be reviewed again, sometimes with additional documentation or explanations provided.
Advertisement
But from July 1st, German embassies wont support the remonstration process -- meaning rejected visa applicants will only be able to challenge rejections in court. Alternatively, applicants can opt to submit another visa application for review, but this would of course come at the cost of one more application fee.
It seems likely that the procedural change will ultimately amount to a higher number of rejections and potentially also to more visa application fees collected.
Visa refusals have knock-on impacts on tourism, business exchanges, and academic opportunities for Indians in Germany.
READ ALSO:
Modi announces more German visas for Indians as Scholz visits
'Won't give up my passport' - Why Indians in Germany face hurdles to citizenship
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
DW
5 hours ago
- DW
Germany's Merz in Washington for talks with Trump – DW – 06/05/2025
Skip next section Merz says he is ready to discuss German domestic politics with Trump 06/05/2025 June 5, 2025 Merz says he is ready to discuss German domestic politics with Trump Germany's new Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said he is ready to discuss German domestic issues with US President Donald Trump during their first meeting at the White House. "If we also talk about German domestic policy, we are welcome to do so," he said ahead of the meeting. "However, I will also be very clear about my opinion, if necessary," Merz added. But he also stressed that Germany does not interfere or comment when it comes to American domestic politics. Meanwhile, the Associated Press news agency quoted a White House official as saying that Trump would likely raise issues such as German defense spending, trade, Ukraine, and what an official called "democratic backsliding" at the meeting. The anonymous source explained that the Trump administration believes freedom of expression has deteriorated in Germany. This position was made clear during a speech by Vice President JD Vance during his address at the Munich Security Conference in February. According to a press statement from the chancellor's office, Merz said that he wants to thank Trump first for the invitation and then present him with a small gift. The German chancellor is prepared to talk about the war in Ukraine and ways Berlin and Washington can work together to end it. Merz also said that he and Trump will also have to discuss trade policy. "Germany is one of America's largest investors. Few countries invest more in the US than Germany does," he added. The statement also outlined NATO as another topic of discussion. "We've amended the German Basic Law. Now, we can truly make the necessary expenditures to strengthen the Bundeswehr," he said in the statement, adding that Germany's goal is to have the strongest conventional army in Europe. "However, I still don't expect any breakthroughs on the three major issues mentioned," the German chancellor said.
DW
6 hours ago
- DW
Germany updates: Merz in Washington for talks with Trump – DW – 06/05/2025
06/05/2025 June 5, 2025 Merz set to talk Ukraine, tariffs with Trump Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington for talks that are likely to call on the new German leader to exert his diplomatic skills to the maximum amid differences over the conflict in Ukraine and trade tariffs. Ahead of the meeting, Merz's spokesman said that the chancellor was, however, looking ahead to his first in-person meeting with Trump "with great calmness and joy." "Germany is the third largest economy in the world, and we have a lot to offer as an economic partner of the USA," Stefan Kornelius said. "At the same time, a very constructive and positive relationship with America is very important to us, for our own economy and for the security of Germany and Europe." The fact that both Trump and Merz are keen golf players and have business backgrounds might also go some way toward creating a good atmosphere despite the weightiness of the topics on the agenda. They are also on first name terms after several phone calls, Kornelius said. Another thorny issue that might raise its head is the support of many in Trump's circle for the far-right German party Alternative for Germany (AfD), with some of them criticizing the fact that it has been declared "right-wing extremist" by Germany's domestic intelligence agency as a blow to free speech. At the time, Merz described these criticisms as "absurd observations" from Washington and said he "would like to encourage the American government ... to largely stay out of" German domestic politics. But even in view of such possibly explosive discussions, Merz quipped in a recent interview with public broadcaster ZDF that he would not need to take valerian — often prescribed to treat anxiety — "to stay calm and have a reasonable conversation with the American president."
DW
9 hours ago
- DW
India is reaching for its own world-class AI engine – DW – 06/05/2025
Despite thousands of AI startups cropping up in India, the nation has yet to produce its own premium AI engine. Why is there no Indian version of DeepSeek or ChatGPT? With over 5 million IT workers and a growing focus on artifical intelligence (AI) in education, Indiaseems to be in an ideal position for what is shaping up to be a global race in AI technology. But while the US set the global AI standard with ChatGPT in 2023, and China quickly closed the gap with its powerful chatbot DeepSeek, India has yet to produce an equivalent Large Language Model (LLM) that can mimic human communication. And it's not for the lack of ambition. According to data from market intelligence firm Tracxn, the Indian AI sector includes 7,114 startups that have collectively raised $23 billion (€20.15 billion) in equity funding so far. Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet approved the IndiaAI Mission initiative with a budget of nearly $1.21 billion, aiming to "undertake the development and deployment of indigenous Large Multimodal Models (LMMs) and domain-specific foundational models in critical sectors." DeepSeek: Cheap AI model shakes up tech industry To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video This week, IndiaAI Mission CEO Abhishek Singh said Indian startups need to think beyond their home turf to compete and succeed against global giants. "They will have to ultimately compete with the best in the world," Singh said at the Accel AI Summit in Bengaluru. "Initial level of support may come from the government, but that will not sustain them in the long run." "They will have to have a global vision in mind when they are training models," Singh said. AI development needs industry, government and academia Representatives of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), the voice of India's $283 billion tech industry, point out that building a globally recognized AI model is a complex, resource-intensive process. "The argument is not whether India can catch up, but whether we can move fast enough and define an AI identity on our own," Satyaki Maitra, senior manager communications of NASSCOM, told DW. Last week, IndiaAI Mission announced the addition of 15,916 Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), which are essential for AI research due to their capacity to perform calculations in parallel. The latest boost will bring the total national AI computing capacity to 34,333 GPUs through public-private partnerships. NVIDIA profits up, despite trade war challenges To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Startups such as Gan AI, Gnan AI, SarvamAI and Soket AI, supported by the IndiaAI Mission, are building foundational models tailored to India, while firms like Sarvam AI, Fractal and CoRover AI are focusing on AI innovation. "However, AI success cannot be achieved through isolated innovation," said Maitra. "It requires cohesive collaboration between government, industry, and academia to build the full value chain, from compute and data governance to model training and real-world deployment." What is holding Indian AI back? Pawan Duggal, the country's foremost cybersecurity expert, told DW that India is likely to face a shortage of high-end AI hardware, limited access to advanced GPUs, and insufficient cloud computing resources, which are essential for training large-scale AI models. "There is also a significant investment shortfall when compared to global peers. While venture capital investment in Indian AI startups has increased, it remains a fraction of what is seen in the US or China," said Duggal. "The US invested $2.34 trillion and China $832 billion in ventures and startups from 2014 to 2023, while India invested $145 billion in the same period," he added. Can AI blackmail us? Facts vs. fear To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Duggal believes that India is already moving towards creating its own AI model, but it has yet to address significant challenges including infrastructure, funding, talent, data, and regulation. 'Brains are plenty in India' Another issue facing Indian engineers is the diversity of languages in India, with English being just one of 22 official languages in the world's most populous country. Furthermore, official languages make up only a tiny faction of over 1,600 languages spoken within its borders. "The only use-case of an 'Indian' LLM is if it works in our various languages which is difficult as of now given that there is a lack of quality data for LLMs to train on in most Indian languages," Yash Shah of Momentum 91, a leading custom software development company, told DW. "For an LLM in English, there are other companies and countries which are far ahead of us and would continue to be that way," said Shah. 'Godfather of AI' urges tougher government rules To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video However, Utpal Vaishnav of Upsquare Technologies, a global technology holding company, says the real obstacles are actually "risk-shy investors, patchy data rules, and tight GPU supply." "Brains are plenty in India. GPUs are on the way and our multilingual data is waiting to be shaped. Give this talent, patient capital and clear problems and a compact, world-class LLM can be launched in two, three years," Vaishnav told DW. Edited by: Darko Janjevic
