The United Kingdom and Schengen countries raised millions of pounds and euros in fees from rejected visa applications from Pakistan, new research published this month shows.
The analysis released by Lago Collective, a community of researchers, policymakers and designers, shows that Pakistanis spent £5.3 million on rejected UK visa applications, with close to 40 per cent applications rejected from Pakistan in 2023.
In the same year, around 50pc of Schengen visas from Pakistan were also rejected, with €3.344m spent on applications
The analysis notes that the visa application fee for short-term Schengen visas is 80 and for the UK equivalent, £100. For UK visa applications, countries with high rejection rates include Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Algeria — bearing high costs as a result (£5.8m, £5.3m, 2.3m and 3.6m, respectively).
Visa application fees are increasing, to 90 for Schengen/Europe and £120 for the UK. This will result in significant increases in rejected visas in 2024, further exacerbated by the emphasis on tightening migration in many European countries where elections are taking place.