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In January 2024, Adeyemi Anifowose, a Lagos-based web designer and cybersecurity professional, applied for a Schengen visa after securing admission to a master’s programme in Luxembourg. He had ₦30 million (about €30,211 and $46,512 at the time) in his savings account and submitted all the necessary documents—from police clearance to travel insurance. But his application was rejected.
The reason? A second naira devaluation at the end of January eroded the euro value of his savings, bringing his proof of funds to €16,700, a little short of the required €17,000.
“I spent nearly ₦2 million ($1,257) on the process,” Anifowose told TechCabal. “I tried again this year but had to stop because the cost kept rising.”
He is one of 50,376 Nigerians whose Schengen visa applications were denied in 2024, collectively losing over €4.5 million ($5.1 million) in non-refundable visa fees. That’s nearly ₦8 billion gone—without boarding a flight.
Nigeria’s rising rejection rates
According to the latest data from the European Commission, the rejection rate for Nigerian applicants reached 45.9% in 2024, up from 40.5% in 2023. It’s the highest rejection rate on record for Nigeria.
This trend isn’t unique to Nigeria. Across Africa, applicants forfeited a staggering €60 million ($67.5 million) in visa fees to European consulates last year—fees that are never returned, even when a visa is denied.
The growing cost of denial
The Schengen visa allows entry into 29 European countries for up to 90 days. In 2024, 111,201 Nigerians applied, up from 105,926 in 2023. But only 60,825 applications were approved. Each application now costs €90, up from €80 in 2023, and the fee is non-refundable, regardless of the outcome.
That means European consulates earned roughly €10 million ($11.3 million) from Nigerian applicants alone—a 14% increase from the previous year.
But the financial impact goes beyond application fees. Many Nigerians spend months preparing, pay third-party agents, and sometimes lose deposits on flights or hotels booked in anticipation of approval.
For many middle-class applicants, a rejection is more than a setback—it’s a financial and emotional blow.
“My colleague and I submitted everything—employment letters, salary history, hotel reservations, an invitation from a tech conference in the Netherlands,” said a Nigerian tech marketing executive at a major fintech firm who asked to remain unnamed to speak freely. “Still, we were rejected. The embassy said they couldn’t ascertain why we were going.”
Why rejection rates are rising
According to Schengen.News, a European visa-focused information portal, the spike in rejections stems from stricter enforcement of immigration rules: “Schengen countries are more rigorously applying policy—thorough checks are leading to more rejections when documentation is incomplete, inconsistent, or raises concerns about overstays.”
But even applicants who follow all the rules can still be denied entry.
“I had to go back and forth submitting documents when I applied for my master’s in Spain in 2017,” said Babatunde Akin-Moses, CEO of fintech firm Sycamore. “It was a rigorous process, even though I was accepted.”
What visa officers look out for
Yinka Folami, national president of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), says that while many Nigerians are technically eligible for visas, they often fall into the hands of deceitful agents promising guaranteed approvals.
“Rather than relying on shortcuts, we should focus on sensitising the Nigerian travelling public—especially small business owners—on proper visa application procedures,” Folami said.
According to him, applicants don’t need to be wealthy to qualify. What matters more is financial transparency and clear evidence of strong ties to Nigeria, through family, employment, or business activity.
“If your business income isn’t reflected in your bank account, it’s hard to prove you’re running a real business,” he explained. “But if they see regular inflow and outflow, that shows active economic activity.”
NANTA has also stressed that credibility—through proper documentation, consistent financial records, and truthful declarations—is more important than net worth.
Global disparities in access
In 2024, Nigeria ranked among the top 25 countries globally for Schengen visa applications and among the highest for rejections. It had the second-highest number of visa denials in Africa, rising two places from 2023.
That stands in stark contrast to wealthier countries like China, the United Kingdom, and the US, where rejection rates are often below 10%.
Some researchers see this growing imbalance as a form of “reverse remittance”.
“Money is flowing from poor to rich countries,” Marta Foresti, founder of global social enterprise LAGO Collective, wrote in a recent blog for Africa at LSE. “Rejected visa applicants often pay more than the base fee—using brokers or agencies, and losing money on travel plans.”
She added: “The costs of being denied—whether missing an academic conference, business event, or concert—are invisible but significant.”
Europe tightens borders—digitally and legally
As access tightens, new regulations are being rolled out to further restrict and digitise entry into Europe. In October 2025, the European Union (EU) will launch the Entry/Exit System (EES), which will automate border checks for non-EU citizens by collecting biometric data. By the end of 2026, travellers from visa-exempt countries will need pre-travel clearance under the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS).
Germany is also abolishing its informal remonstration system by July 2025. Previously, rejected applicants could appeal denials directly at German embassies. This change means fewer options for recourse.
In Spain, authorities scrapped the Golden Visa programme in April 2025, which had allowed wealthy foreigners to gain residency by investing in real estate. The move is intended to curb speculative housing investments that drive up property prices for locals.
While the geographical reach of Schengen expanded in January 2025 with Romania and Bulgaria joining the zone, the regulatory barriers to entry are growing in parallel.
Even low-risk applicants face hurdles
South Africa, with a relatively low rejection rate of 5.7%, appears to be faring better. But access is still not guaranteed. South African journalist Tracy Dube shared that her application to attend the Berlin energy transition dialogue in Germany last year was denied.
“The reason given was that I would be a threat to public diplomacy,” she said.
Even for well-documented applicants with legitimate reasons to travel, visa denials are increasingly arbitrary. And as countries tighten entry requirements, these denials become harder to contest.
Zambia, with a rejection rate of 10.8%, is calling for refunds on the rejected visa applications. Its president, Hakainde Hichilema, said on May 23 that it is unfair for applicants to lose money when their visa requests are turned down.
“It is unacceptable that our citizens lose significant sums of money on unsuccessful applications,” he noted, calling for a fairer system that includes refunds for rejected visas.
A call for rethinking mobility
The €4.5 million Nigerians lost in application fees last year is just the surface. Beneath it lies a deeper cost: broken dreams, stalled careers, and cancelled deals.
For Nigeria—the continent’s fourth largest economy and most populous nation—global mobility isn’t just about tourism or lifestyle. It’s about education, commerce, and opportunity.
“Being cut off from access to European countries carries real consequences—it limits career advancement, educational opportunities, and participation in the global arena,” said Ogugua Belonwu, founder and CEO of MyJobMag Limited, a tech-powered career platform. “The difficulty of the process alone can take a mental toll.”
He added that for many, the stress and uncertainty make reapplying hardly worth it.
“Unless you’re seen as exceptional, you’re often denied. The reality is that meeting the minimum requirements is no longer enough. And that’s a troubling reflection of where Nigeria stands today.”
As rejection rates rise and regulations tighten, a critical question emerges: Should the global visa system be redesigned to be fairer, more transparent, and more reflective of economic and human realities?
If not, millions more will continue to pay for access that never arrives.
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