By Ella Worehead

According to official statistics, Schengen embassies in Jordan collected a total of 60,011 uniform visa applications in 2017, a significant increase of 12% compared to the previous year, says SchengenVisaInfo.com.

Schengen countries are an attractive destination for many travellers around the world as the applications for Schengen visas reached record levels in 2017. Based on statistics, during that year Schengen embassies dealt with over than 16 million visa applications.

Jordan citizens shared a significant proportion of these applicants. Fourteen Schengen embassies located in Jordan reported for a number of 60,011 uniform visa applications. Compared to a year ago when there were 54,238 such applications a significant growth of 12% is noted.

Which embassy collected most Schengen visa applications in Jordan?

Germany topped the list of Schengen countries whose embassy collected most uniform visa applications in 2017. In absolute numbers, the German embassy in Amman received a total of 9,454 visa applications. In turn, 8,031 applicants were issued a visa and 935 of them were declined.

The Spanish embassy in Amman was also quite loaded with Schengen application. In 2017, 7,891 residents of Jordan submitted a Schengen uniform visa application at this embassy. Out of this number, 5,954 applicants were issued a Schengen uniform visa while 1,156 were denied one. This is to say, 14.6% of all applications in this embassy were declined.

The Italian embassy completed the top three in this list. During 2017, 6,855 Jordan residents applied for a Schengen visa at this embassy. As a result, 5,697 applicants were issued a visa and 1,053 were declined. In percentage terms, visa denials at the Italian embassy in 2017 accounted for 15.4% of all applications.

Which embassy issued most Multiple Entry Visas?

According to existing rules, a Multiple Entry Visa enables its holder to enter the Schengen area more than once and stay for up to 90 days within 180 days following the day of visa approval.

Schengen embassies in Jordan granted 20,666 MEV visas or 43.3% of all visa grants. The Dutch embassy stood at the top in this aspect. Out of 4,192 issued visas, more than any other embassy, MEV grants accounted for 100% of them.

The following embassies issued a relatively high number of MEV visas:

Germany – 4,094 MEV visas

Italy – 3,375 MEV visas

Austria – 1,959 MEV visas

Greece – 1,458 MEV visas

Which embassy issued most LTV visas?

Limited Territory Visas enable their holders to enter only that particular country to whose embassies, they’ve applied for a Schengen visa or other countries specified in his/her application.

During 2017, Schengen embassies in Jordan issued a total of 1,628 LTV visas. The German issued most of them (488), followed by Sweden (239), Spain (213) and the Netherlands (169).

Which embassy denied most Schengen applications?

The Austrian embassy in Amman was quite selective according to statistics. During 2017, they denied Schengen uniform visas to 1,418 applicants, which weighted for 25.3% of all applications collected from this embassy.

Sweden (1,276), Spain (1,165), Italy (1,053) and the Netherlands (1,052) followed in the list.

At this point, a large increase in visa denials in absolute numbers is noted. In 2016, 7,051 applicants were denied while in the following year the figure expanded by 33% to reach 9,381 visa denials. The share of visa denials in total applications didn’t change that much (13% to 15.6%).

Schengen countries have dealt with a large flux of illegal immigrants since 2015. It is noticed that many illegal immigrants tried to use means of a Schengen visa to overstay and reside illegally in the Schengen area. As part of their efforts to face this issue, Schengen embassies are paying extra attention to the selection process.

The writer is a journalist covering the European Union.