PARIS: For yet another year, France tops the table for having received more applications for short-term visas than any other Schengen country, according to the Schengen Visa statistics for consulates in 2017, published by the Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission.
France consulates around the world had received a total of 3,265,919 visa applications in 2017, an increase of 418,485 compared to 2016.
Out of the overall short-term visa applications received, France issued 3,161,274 visas, of which 965,661 were multiple-entry short-term visas.
Germany follows France as the second in the list, having approved 1,857,770 vias out of the 2,049,055 visa applications its consulates around the world received, and Italy listed as the third with 1,703,693 visas issued out of 1,850,260 applications received. Both countries were in the same positions in 2016 as well.
Spain remains the fourth in the list once again with 40,428 more applications than the previous year, with 615,897 visas issued among others.
The six other countries out of the top 10 that received most applications are as follows:
Greece – 981,091 visas issued out of 1,029,564 received applications
Finland – 814,047 visas issued out of 827,520 received applications
Poland – 789,343 visas issued out of 823,101 received applications
Czech Republic – 594,225 visas issued out of 623,255 received applications
Netherlands – 550,910 visas issued out of 621,431 received applications
Switzerland – 451,528 visas issued out of 517,010 received applications
However, statistics change when it comes to the number of multiple-entry visas (MEVs) issued. The table is topped by Germany by 1,525,361 visas, followed by Italy (1,229,938) having issued most visas of this type, leaving France(965,661) in the third position, just above Greece, Finland and Spain.
A total of 8,677,376 multiple-entry visas were issued within 2017.
As for Limited Territorial Validity visa applications, Germany and Switzerland once again topped the table in this regard, with the first issuing 34,892 visas of this type and the latter issuing 28,018. On the other hand, while France issued 4,190 LTV visas in 2017, the numbers lowered in 2017, with around 600 less LTV visas issued.
