Applying for a Schengen visa from Pakistan

Every Schengen state's refusal rate for applications lodged in Pakistan, 2024. Official EU Commission figures.

Lowest refusal23.5% Czech Republic · 426 applications

Highest refusal83.5% Austria · 3,604 applications

Overall from Pakistan47.6% 78,147 applications, 2024

Spread3.6× worst vs best odds

Before you use this to pick a country, know the rule that decides whether your application is even valid. The Schengen Visa Code requires you to apply to the country of your main destination — where you will spend the most days. If you are splitting time evenly with no single main destination, you apply to the country of first entry. That is the whole rule.

Applying to a country you do not actually intend to visit is not a loophole. Consulates check the itinerary against the application, share data through the Visa Information System, and "application lodged at the wrong consulate" is a standard ground for refusal. Worse, if it is treated as misrepresentation rather than a mistake, the visa can be annulled after issue and the refusal follows you into every future application, because every Schengen consulate can see it.

Where this data legitimately helps: when you genuinely are visiting several countries and no single one dominates, the first-entry rule gives you a real choice — and the refusal rates below differ enough to be worth knowing before you book. It also tells you what to expect, and how much documentation to prepare, for the consulate you actually have to use.

Every Schengen state, ranked by refusal rate

Deciding country	Applications	Issued	Refused	Refusal rate	vs 2022
Czech Republic	426	325	100	23.5%	▼ -7.98 pts
Germany	20,570	14,010	6,491	31.6%	▲ +4.28 pts
Italy	3,433	2,049	1,089	31.7%	▲ +9.12 pts
Switzerland	3,102	1,903	1,084	35.0%	▼ -20.13 pts
Bulgaria	294	136	121	38.9%	—
France	7,694	4,340	3,123	41.7%	▲ +1.86 pts
Portugal	1,717	894	749	45.5%	▲ +3.97 pts
Romania	468	234	228	49.0%	—
Netherlands	10,158	4,741	5,005	51.0%	▲ +0.30 pts
Hungary	1,172	545	627	53.2%	▲ +13.60 pts
Spain	15,396	5,108	6,686	56.0%	▲ +3.12 pts
Belgium	4,783	1,815	2,888	61.1%	▲ +4.23 pts
Greece	794	242	539	68.5%	▲ +53.40 pts
Poland	573	165	406	70.9%	▲ +46.34 pts
Denmark	3,963	810	2,988	78.6%	▲ +21.96 pts
Austria	3,604	580	3,011	83.5%	▲ +72.38 pts

States with fewer than 250 applications from Pakistan are excluded — below that the rate swings on a handful of cases. "Refused" is the EU's uniform visas not issued. Rate is refused ÷ (issued + limited-territory visas + refused), which is the Commission's own formula.

Get told when this changes

The State Department publishes these figures once a year with no announcement, and has skipped years entirely. We check the source daily and will email you when the number for Pakistan moves. No newsletter, no marketing — just the data changing.

By consulate

The consulate you use can matter as much as the country. Germany refused 29.5% of applications at Islamabad but 33.1% at Karachi in 2024 — the same country, the same year. Applicant mix differs between cities, so this is not purely a consulate-strictness effect, but it is a real difference in outcomes.

City	Deciding country	Applications	Refused	Rate
Islamabad	Czech Republic	426	100	23.5%
Islamabad	Germany	8,637	2,536	29.5%
Islamabad	Italy	3,433	1,089	31.7%
Karachi	Germany	11,933	3,955	33.1%
Islamabad	Switzerland	3,102	1,084	34.9%
Islamabad	Bulgaria	294	121	38.9%
Islamabad	France	7,694	3,123	41.7%
Islamabad	Portugal	1,717	749	45.5%
Islamabad	Romania	468	228	49.0%
Islamabad	Netherlands	10,158	5,005	51.0%
Islamabad	Hungary	1,172	627	53.2%
Islamabad	Spain	15,396	6,686	56.0%
Islamabad	Belgium	4,783	2,888	61.1%
Islamabad	Greece	794	539	68.5%
Islamabad	Poland	573	406	70.9%
Islamabad	Denmark	3,963	2,988	78.6%
Islamabad	Austria	3,604	3,011	83.5%

Travel medical insurance — required, not optional

Unlike a US visitor visa, a Schengen visa cannot be issued without travel medical insurance. The Visa Code sets a minimum of €30,000 of cover for medical emergencies, hospital treatment and repatriation, valid across the entire Schengen area for the whole period of stay. Missing or insufficient insurance is a straightforward refusal ground, and it is one of the most common avoidable ones.

Buy a policy that is refundable if the visa is refused — most visa-specific insurers offer this, and it removes the risk of paying for cover you never use.

AXA Schengen — Visa-compliant €30,000+ policies, refundable if the visa is refused. (link not configured)
Europ Assistance — Schengen-compliant travel medical cover, widely accepted by consulates. (link not configured)

Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy a policy through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It does not change the statistics on this page, which come from published government data.

Add your own interview to the record

Official data cannot tell anyone which questions get asked or which documents get demanded under 221(g). Only people who have been through it can. Nothing identifying is published — no name, no email, no employer. If you would rather not be quoted at all, say so in the notes.

Source and what this actually counts

European Commission, DG Migration and Home Affairs, Schengen visa statistics for consulates, 2024. Primary source ↗

Rows are grouped by where the consulate is, not by the applicant's nationality. For most people those are the same thing, but a national of one country applying while resident in another is counted where they applied. Figures cover short-stay type C visas only — not national long-stay D visas, and not airport transit.

"Issued" includes limited-territorial-validity (LTV) visas — a visa valid only for certain countries rather than the whole Schengen area. An LTV is an approval, not a refusal, so it belongs on the issued side, and the Commission's own rate calculation treats it that way. Some states issue a high share of LTVs, which is worth knowing if you need to move between countries.

Decisions in a given year include applications lodged late in the previous year, so issued plus refused does not equal applications. That is why the rate uses decisions as its denominator rather than applications.