VisaChances

Visa refusal statistics: key findings

The headline numbers from the latest official data: European Commission Schengen statistics for 2025, UK Home Office outcomes for 2025, and US State Department refusal rates. Each line links to the full breakdown and has its own anchor for citation.

  1. Schengen states refused 14.6% of short-stay visa decisions in 2025 — 1,768,605 refusals out of 12,074,345 decisions, on 12.2 million applications (European Commission visa statistics). Detail · #

  2. Among countries lodging at least 50,000 Schengen applications in 2025, the highest refusal rates were Senegal (51.9%), Nigeria (47.9%), Ghana (46.5%) (European Commission visa statistics). Detail · #

  3. 84.2% of Schengen visa decisions on applications lodged in India were approvals in 2025 (181,111 refusals out of 1,148,001 decisions), down from 89.2% in 2019. Denmark approved the highest share (92.9%) (European Commission visa statistics). Detail · #

  4. 52.1% of Schengen visa decisions on applications lodged in Nigeria were approvals in 2025 (53,196 refusals out of 110,956 decisions), up from 51.3% in 2019. Germany approved the highest share (70.8%) (European Commission visa statistics). Detail · #

  5. 54.1% of Schengen visa decisions on applications lodged in Pakistan were approvals in 2025 (40,026 refusals out of 87,247 decisions), down from 63.8% in 2019. Germany approved the highest share (75.8%) (European Commission visa statistics). Detail · #

  6. The consulate matters: in 2025 Germany approved 84.5% of applications from Türkiye at Istanbul but 55.9% at Ankara — same country, same year (European Commission visa statistics, consulate-level tables). Detail · #

  7. The UK refused 20.3% of visitor visa decisions in 2025 — 569,494 of 2,809,076 (UK Home Office entry clearance outcomes). Detail · #

  8. Among nationalities with at least 10,000 UK visitor visa decisions in 2025, the highest refusal rates were Bangladesh (48.6%), Algeria (46.5%), Iran (43.6%) (UK Home Office entry clearance outcomes). Detail · #

  9. 82.0% of UK visitor visa applications from India were approved in 2025 (677,234 decisions), against 89.4% in 2015 (UK Home Office entry clearance outcomes). Detail · #

  10. 61.8% of UK visitor visa applications from Nigeria were approved in 2025 (169,839 decisions), against 67.4% in 2015 (UK Home Office entry clearance outcomes). Detail · #

  11. 58.7% of UK visitor visa applications from Pakistan were approved in 2025 (156,359 decisions), against 49.9% in 2015 (UK Home Office entry clearance outcomes). Detail · #

  12. The US refused 22.04% of B1/B2 visitor visa applications from India in FY2025, rank 122 of 198 nationalities (US State Department adjusted refusal rates). Detail · #

  13. The US refused 57.00% of B1/B2 visitor visa applications from Nigeria in FY2025, rank 40 of 198 nationalities (US State Department adjusted refusal rates). Detail · #

  14. No official US student (F-1) or work (H-1B) visa refusal rate exists for any single country: the State Department publishes nationality-level rates for B visitor visas only, and visa-class rates only as worldwide totals. Detail · #

  15. Australia's tourist-stream visitor visa grant rate in 2025-Q2 ranged from 45.2% (Bangladesh citizens) to 93.8% (South Africa citizens), among citizenships Home Affairs reports separately (Department of Home Affairs). Detail · #

Errors to avoid when reporting these numbers

The EU tables are by consulate location, not nationality. The Commission's column is "country where the consulate is located". A table headed "Schengen refusal rate by nationality" built from it is mislabelled — that is how Denmark or Brazil end up topping "nationality" rankings.

Refused ÷ applications is not the refusal rate. The Commission divides refusals by decisions (visas issued + limited-territory visas + refusals); decisions in one year include applications lodged the year before.

There is no official per-country US student or work visa refusal rate. Any such figure is an estimate.

How to cite

VisaChances, “Visa refusal statistics: key findings”, accessed date, https://visachances.com/findings.html#f-schengen-india — from European Commission, UK Home Office and US State Department data. All figures are free to reuse with attribution; the underlying CSVs are on the data page.