Schengen visa denial lowest for Bahrain in the region

BAHRAIN had the lowest rate of Schengen visa denials in the region last year, according to a new report.

VisaGuide.World, an online guide to worldwide visas, said in its latest report that people who applied for Schengen visas from Bahrain were better off than their counterparts in the rest of the region.

It explained that at only 3.2 per cent, Bahrain had the lowest rate of denials for visa to the Schengen region during 2018.

The release of the report comes as Bahrain seeks to exempt its citizens from the mandatory Schengen visa.

The Foreign Ministry said earlier this week that it has started taking measures in a bid to secure a Schengen visa waiver for Bahrainis travelling to Europe.

“A total of 23,544 residents in Bahrain applied for a Schengen visa during 2018 based on latest application statistics,” said the report.

“This number represented a slight increase compared to the previous year when a number of 22,804 visa applicants were registered by Schengen embassies.

“During 2018, a number of 22,687 visa applicants were granted a Schengen visa, thus accounting for almost 97pc of all visa applications.”

Statistics also showed that European embassies in Bahrain scored the lowest rate of Schengen visa denials compared to their counterparts in neighbouring countries.

“Of the total number of visa applications in Bahrain during 2018, 765 of them were denied a visa,” added the report.

“In percentage terms, the rate of Schengen visa denials in Bahrain last year was only 3.2pc.”

Comparatively, the percentage share of visa denials at European embassies in other countries in this region was significantly higher, with Iraq topping the list at over 47pc.

“In the United Arab Emirates, Schengen embassies rejected 17.9pc of all visa applicants, and in Qatar 7.9pc of all visa applicants were declined,” said the report.

Germany stood at the top of the Schengen countries where most applications from Bahrain were processed.

“In 2018, the German Embassy operating in Bahrain received a total of 8,971 visa applications out of which 8,759 turned out to be successful and the rest of 198 applicants were denied,” said the report.

“Multiple Entry Visas shared the vast majority (97.5pc) of all visa grants.”

While the French Embassy in Manama ranked second on the list, having collected 8,557 applications and granting 8,336 visas.

The number of visa denials was at 185 or 2.2pc of the total.

“In 2018 the Italian Embassy in Manama had to process 6,013 Schengen visa applications,” according to the report.

“As a result, 5,592 applicants were given visas while 379 were rejected.”

The percentage share of visa denials at this embassy was 6.3pc.

The Schengen zone is an area comprised of 26 European Union countries where legal residents of member countries can move freely within the zone without visas.

Source: http://www.gdnonline.com/Details/568871