Moroccans lost MAD 118 million in rejected Schengen visas in 2023

Moroccans have wasted MAD 118 million in rejected Schengen visas applications, a total of 136,367 rejected demands, a shocking figure considering Morocco ranks 4th globally in Schengen visa applications in 2023.

Recent data from the European Commission showed that Morocco ranked fourth globally in terms of Schengen visa applications in 2023, with over 591,000 applications.

With the great number of applications Morocco is one of the countries getting the highest costs of rejections, in Africa Morocco places second in terms of the cost of rejected visas, directly after Algeria.

A reason that is suspected to cause the great number of rejections is the so-called “silent crisis” between Morocco and France, which has lasted for over two and a half years, and led the French government to halve the number of visas granted to Moroccans.

However other data shows that the rejection rates may be the result of other reasons, as even with relatively stable political relations with Spain, Morocco was ranked first on the list of countries most requesting Spanish visas last year, with a total of 51 thousand applications, and with a rejection rate of 27%, a great rejection number compared to the number of applications.

The high rejection rate of Moroccan visa applications from countries other than France may indicate stringent criteria or concerns over immigration and overstays.

This impacts both individual travelers and broader diplomatic relations.

The financial cost of rejected visas for Moroccan applicants is significant, totaling millions of euros annually, something that Moroccans need to keep in mind before applying and considering alternative destinations outside of Europe.

This initiative needs to be encouraged by Morocco since the individual cost of a visa may not seem significant for an individual who is trying to apply, however with the great number of applications this becomes a significant issue, as visa rejections now becoming an industry that generates money for popular destination countries.