Kehinde Fajobi
Nigerians are experiencing high rejection rates for Schengen visas as migration to developed countries surges.
According to the Henley Global Mobility Report January 2025, 42,940 out of 105,926 visa applications submitted by Nigerians in 2024 were denied, representing a rejection rate of 40.8%.
The report ranked Nigeria 11th among the top 20 countries with the highest visa rejections. It highlighted that Africa faces disproportionately high rejection rates, with six of the top 10 countries on the list being African nations.
Comoros led with a 61.3% rejection rate, followed by Guinea-Bissau (51%) and Ghana (47.5%).
Nigeria’s economic challenges, including a record-high inflation rate of 34.6% in November 2024, unemployment, and rising living costs, have fueled increased migration in recent years.
The report noted that global visa rejection rates for Africans are largely influenced by weak passport rankings and identity-based visa policies.
Nigeria’s passport ranked 94th globally in the latest Henley Passport Index, reflecting limited mobility.
Prof. Mehari Maru of Johns Hopkins University, commenting on the report, said, “The global mobility divide is widening significantly. Africans face consistently higher rejection rates than their Asian and global peers.
“Despite submitting fewer applications than Asia, African applicants were twice as likely to be rejected, with rates 14 percentage points higher.”
The data also revealed that while African countries accounted for just 2.8% of global Schengen visa applications, they faced an average rejection rate of 44.8%, underscoring the barriers many Nigerians and other African citizens face in accessing economic opportunities abroad.