The number of UAE travellers keen on visiting European countries increased moderately between 2016 and 2017, with Schengen visa applications in the Emirates going up by 2 per cent, according to official statistics released by the SchengenVisaInfo.com.

The past year, a total of 202,232 UAE citizens applied for a Schengen visa, slightly more than in 2016 (201,995). Compared to the total of 16.15 million Schengen uniform visa applications lodged in 2017 in all countries, the UAE applications amounted to just 1 per cent.

In 2017, the majority of UAE applicants were aspiring to go to Italy, fewer than in 2016 (38,646 uniform Schengen Visa applications). As the statistics showed, the Italian embassy located in Dubai received 33,914 Schengen uniform visa applications in 2017. In return, the consulate granted a total of 25,326 Schengen visas. Almost half of the visa grants at this embassy where MEV visas, which enables the holder to enter the zone more than once.

Similar to having the highest number of Schengen visa applications in 2017, the Italian embassy also had the highest number of rejected applications. A quarter (or exactly 8,583) of uniform Schengen visa applications at this embassy failed to get a visa in 2017.

Other Schengen countries UAE citizens traditionally like to visit are Germany, France, Switzerland and Spain. In 2017, 26,774 UAE residents applied for a Schengen visa at the German embassy. Among them, 22,168 received a positive approval, the absolute majority (98.2 per cent) of whom were granted a MEV visa. On the other hand, the rejected Schengen uniform visa applications counted at 4,120 or 15.6 per cent of the total applications at this embassy.

Same as the top, the bottom of the list hasn’t changed much with Poland, Finland, Hungary receiving least Schengen visa applications from UAE citizens. At the very bottom, the Luxembourg consulate received just 236 applications and granted 226 Schengen visas. Included in the total number of visa issuance, the MEV visas awarded by this embassy counted at 194. By contrast, eight applicants failed to get their Schengen visa at the Luxembourg consulate. - TradeArabia News Service