Applying for a Schengen visa from United Arab Emirates

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

Lowest refusal6.2% Latvia · 451 applications

Highest refusal65.7% Estonia · 722 applications

Overall from United Arab Emirates23.8% 260,027 applications, 2024

Spread10.5× 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
Latvia	451	415	28	6.2%	—
Portugal	2,292	1,879	355	15.9%	▼ -5.92 pts
Italy	23,240	19,527	3,701	15.9%	▼ -2.42 pts
Romania	614	497	95	15.9%	—
Poland	2,311	1,919	385	16.2%	▼ -1.44 pts
Greece	17,974	14,695	3,062	17.1%	▼ -5.46 pts
Belgium	6,588	5,367	1,180	18.0%	▲ +1.90 pts
Spain	24,799	19,420	4,482	18.3%	▼ -5.52 pts
France	28,778	23,093	5,399	18.9%	▲ +0.32 pts
Netherlands	29,473	22,427	5,939	20.8%	▼ -0.43 pts
Switzerland	27,148	21,251	5,788	21.3%	▲ +0.99 pts
Austria	4,378	3,218	1,101	25.1%	▲ +6.53 pts
Finland	1,335	976	335	25.4%	▼ -5.54 pts
Czech Republic	9,015	6,531	2,380	26.4%	▼ -8.01 pts
Germany	32,956	23,399	8,778	27.0%	▲ +4.58 pts
Norway	12,007	8,699	3,308	27.6%	▼ -3.45 pts
Luxembourg	719	716	286	28.5%	▲ +6.10 pts
Slovenia	1,271	846	359	28.9%	—
Slovakia	917	614	300	32.8%	▲ +6.18 pts
Hungary	9,717	6,463	3,254	33.5%	▼ -7.77 pts
Bulgaria	2,224	1,269	826	35.9%	—
Sweden	4,693	2,701	1,914	41.2%	▲ +13.16 pts
Denmark	12,846	7,927	6,391	44.6%	▲ +29.60 pts
Malta	1,464	776	636	45.0%	▲ +6.83 pts
Croatia	2,095	1,098	939	45.8%	—
Estonia	722	244	468	65.7%	—

States with fewer than 250 applications from United Arab Emirates 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 United Arab Emirates moves. No newsletter, no marketing — just the data changing.

By consulate

City	Deciding country	Applications	Refused	Rate
Abu Dhabi	Latvia	451	28	6.2%
Dubai	Italy	16,148	2,486	15.4%
Abu Dhabi	Portugal	2,292	355	15.9%
Dubai	Romania	614	95	15.9%
Abu Dhabi	Poland	2,311	385	16.2%
Abu Dhabi	Greece	17,974	3,062	17.1%
Abu Dhabi	Italy	7,092	1,215	17.1%
Abu Dhabi	Belgium	6,588	1,180	18.0%
Abu Dhabi	Spain	24,799	4,482	18.3%
Abu Dhabi	France	28,778	5,399	18.9%
Dubai	Netherlands	29,473	5,939	20.8%
Abu Dhabi	Switzerland	27,148	5,788	21.3%
Abu Dhabi	Austria	4,378	1,101	25.1%
Abu Dhabi	Finland	1,335	335	25.4%
Abu Dhabi	Czech Republic	9,015	2,380	26.4%
Dubai	Germany	32,956	8,778	27.0%
Abu Dhabi	Norway	12,007	3,308	27.6%
Abu Dhabi	Luxembourg	719	286	28.5%
Abu Dhabi	Slovenia	1,271	359	28.9%
Abu Dhabi	Slovakia	917	300	32.8%
Abu Dhabi	Hungary	9,717	3,254	33.5%
Dubai	Bulgaria	2,224	826	35.9%
Abu Dhabi	Sweden	4,693	1,914	41.2%
Dubai	Denmark	12,846	6,391	44.6%
Abu Dhabi	Malta	1,464	636	45.0%
Dubai	Croatia	2,095	939	45.8%
Abu Dhabi	Estonia	722	468	65.7%

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.