A significant number of Nigerians are being denied Schengen visas, as rejection rates rise amidst a surge in migration to more developed countries. Almost half of all Nigerian applications for Schengen visas were turned down in 2024.
According to the Henley Global Mobility Report for January 2025, published by Henley & Partners, 42,940 of the 105,926 Schengen visa applications submitted by Nigerians in 2024 were rejected, accounting for 40.8% of all applications.
Migration has been a long-standing desire for Nigeria’s middle class, but in recent years, the trend has escalated due to worsening economic conditions.
In November 2024, Nigeria’s inflation reached a record high of 34.60%, exacerbating the cost of living crisis, unemployment, and a lack of opportunities, prompting thousands of Nigerians to seek a better life abroad.
The high rejection rate has placed Nigeria among the top 20 countries with the most denied Schengen visas, ranking 11th globally.
The Henley report attributes the rejections to factors like the strength of Nigerian passports and identity-based visa policies, noting that visa denials have more than doubled in the past decade, creating significant barriers to economic mobility for Nigerians and other African citizens.
Nigeria’s passport is currently ranked 94th in the global passport strength index.
Africa, as a region, also faces higher rejection rates compared to other continents, despite a relatively low volume of Schengen visa applications from the region.
The report reveals that six out of the top 10 countries with the highest rejection rates are in Africa. Comoros leads with a 61.3% rejection rate, followed by Guinea-Bissau at 51%, Ghana at 47.5%, Mali at 46.1%, Sudan at 42.3%, and Senegal at 41.2%.
Other countries facing significant rejection rates include Pakistan (49.6%), Syria (46%), and Bangladesh (43.3%). Notably, Greece, despite being a part of the European Union and the Schengen Area, has the second-highest rejection rate at 56.4%.
The report also highlights that the top 10 African countries, while responsible for only 2.8% of global Schengen visa applications, faced a rejection rate of 44.8%. Of the 277,792 applications from these nations, half were rejected.
The report further notes: “In 2023, the top 20 countries from Africa and Asia submitted a combined 703,894 applications, accounting for 6.8% of all Schengen visa applications. Of these, 40% were rejected.”
Prof. Mehari Maru, of the School of Transnational Governance and the Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute, commented on the report, stating: “The global mobility divide is widening significantly. As the Henley Passport Index for January 2025 shows, global travel freedom has nearly doubled from 58 visa-free destinations in 2006 to 111 in 2025. However, the gap between the most and least mobile nations has reached unprecedented levels.”
He continued, “Africans face consistently higher rejection rates compared to their Asian and global peers. Despite submitting half as many applications as Asia, African applicants in 2023 were twice as likely to be rejected, with rejection rates 14 percentage points higher than those from Asia.”
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