Kosovo, Kuwait & Qatar Nationals Filed the Most Visa Applications per Capita in 2022, Data Show
While Turks, Russians and Indians have filed the most visa applications in terms of numbers, Kosovo nationals are the leading nationality to have submitted the most requests per capita, with 6,891 people applying for a visa in every 100,000 inhabitants.
According to Schengen Statistics, every 2,126th person in the country, populated by 1.7 million inhabitants, has applied for a visa in 2022 – standing ahead of all other applicants, while the total number of Kosovar visa applicants reached 121,972. In general, 6.8 per cent of the population in Kosovar filed an application for a Schengen visa last year.
The second and third nationalities to file the most visa applications per capita were Kuwaitis and Qataris, with 3,426 and 2,939 applicants per every 100,000 inhabitants, respectively, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
This implies that 3.42 per cent of the 4.3 million population of Kuwait have submitted an application, similar to 2.9 per cent of the population in Qatar, which has a population of 2.7 million. Additionally, every 29th person in Kuwait and 34th in Qatar has filed a visa application to Schengen consulates in 2022. These countries filed 147,694 and 79,859 visa applications last year, respectively, ranking 14th and 24th in terms of the total number of applications.
Muslim-Majority Countries Are Most Common Among 10 Top Visa Applicants Per Capita
Out of the top ten countries with the highest applicant rates per capita, only three – Cape Verde, Suriname and Armenia have a lower share of Muslim nationals in it.
This means that the other seven countries are all Muslim-majority nationals. The list of ten countries with the most applicants per capita is included with Cape Verde, with 2,935 visa applicants being recorded for every 100,000 inhabitants. Consequently, every 34th person in the African country has filed for a visa application in 2022.
Suriname and Armenia follow as fifth and sixth countries with the most applicants per capita – with every 37th Surinamese and every 45th Armenian applying for a Schengen visa last year. This means that 2.7 and 2.2 per cent of the population in these countries have submitted visa applications, respectively.
Furthermore, the United Arab Emirates is ranked 7th for having the highest number of applicants per capita – with every 51st person out of 9.5 million inhabitants in the country applying for a visa at some point in 2022.
Applicants from Lebanon and Tunisia follow next with 1,853 and 1,351 applications per 100,000 inhabitants, indicating that every 54th Lebanese citizen and 74th Tunisian citizen is an applicant, respectively. This further implies that 1.8 per cent of Lebanese and 1.3 per cent of Tunisians are Schengen visa applicants.
Bahrain is the last of ten countries with the highest applicant rates per capita – 1,272 visa applications were filed for 100,000 inhabitants, indicating that every 76th Bahrain national has filed an application for a visa in 2022.
