Schengen Visa for Iraqis in the UK (2026 Guide)

TL;DR

Iraqi citizens need a Schengen visa, Kurdish applicants on an Iraqi passport included. If you legally live in the UK, you apply in the UK with your BRP or eVisa share code. Iraq is on the EU's prior-consultation list, so decisions can take longer than 15 days, and old M and N series passports are invalid. Fee €90 (about £81) plus the centre's fee; we prepare and book it for £99. The fixed facts:

Schengen short-stay visa key facts, 2026

Schengen short-stay visa (Type C)	2026
Visa fee (adult)	€90
Visa fee (child 6 to 11)	€45
Visa fee (child under 6)	Free
Maximum stay	90 days in any rolling 180-day period
Standard processing	15 calendar days (up to 45 in some cases)
Travel insurance, minimum cover	€30,000
Passport	Issued within 10 years; valid 3+ months beyond your trip
Member states	29 countries

Do Iraqi citizens need a Schengen visa?

Yes. Iraq is on the EU's list of nationalities that need a visa to cross the Schengen external border (Annex I of Regulation 2018/1806), so every Iraqi passport holder needs a short-stay (Type C) visa for tourism, a family visit or business, however long they have lived in the UK. There is no separate rule for the Kurdistan Region: a passport issued in Erbil or Sulaymaniyah is an Iraqi passport and the same rules apply. ILR, a UK visa or refugee status never waives the requirement; UK residence decides where you apply.

If you live in Iraq, you apply in Iraq, through the operator your destination uses there. A UK visit visa is not residence, and the UK consulates direct visitors back to their home consulate.

Proving you live in the UK

Consulates take an application from a non-EU national who legally resides in their district. You prove that with:

• an eVisa share code from your UKVI account on gov.uk ("view and prove your immigration status"), with the printed status page and your date of birth. Generate it close to the appointment; codes expire. See the eVisa share code guide.
• a valid BRP card, front and back, if you still hold one
• the visa vignette in your passport, for a recent arrival

Many Iraqis in the UK hold refugee status or humanitarian protection and travel on a UK-issued document instead of an Iraqi passport. The 1951 Convention refugee travel document is recognised by every Schengen state and is itself visa-required; a Certificate of Travel is accepted by fewer states. See Schengen visa with a UK refugee travel document. We do not advise on UK immigration status.

Is your Iraqi passport accepted?

The EU's table of travel documents recognised for crossing the external border, updated with member states' notifications to 16 October 2026, lists the Iraqi ordinary passport as recognised by every Schengen state, with three notes:

• the M and N series are no longer issued and were declared invalid; a visa cannot be placed in one
• Germany and Poland do not accept documents issued in Al-Anbar province or the city of Mosul between 1 January 2015 and 1 January 2018; documents issued there after 1 January 2018 are valid
• ordinary passports may be issued in any provincial capital or at Iraqi embassies abroad with the equipment to do so, and the place of birth of an Iraqi born outside Iraq is always recorded as Baghdad

The passport must be issued within the last 10 years, valid at least three months after you leave Schengen, with two blank pages. If yours was issued in London by the Iraqi embassy, that is fine.

Why Iraqi applications can take longer: prior consultation

Under Article 22 of the Visa Code, a Schengen state may require other states' central authorities to consult it before a visa is issued to nationals of certain countries. The European Commission's list includes Iraq, which means at least one member state asks to be consulted on every Iraqi application lodged anywhere in the Schengen system, with seven calendar days to reply. The 15-day standard is therefore more likely to stretch, the Visa Code allows up to 45 days, and the consulate may ask for extra documents during the examination. Lodge up to six months before travel, and at least four weeks ahead.

Which consulate do Iraqis in the UK apply to?

The main destination: the country where you will spend the most nights, or the country of first entry if the nights are equal. Choosing a country for its appointment calendar is a refusal ground. Once issued, the visa covers the whole Schengen area.

Every country is in the cost index. Guides: Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands.

What documents do Iraqi nationals need?

The standard Schengen document set, with the points that matter for Iraqi applicants:

How do you prove you will return to the UK?

Consulates refuse when they doubt the applicant will leave Schengen and come back to the UK. The evidence that answers it is a life here on paper: an employer letter with approved leave and a return date, a tenancy or mortgage, children at school, UK status with months to run, and a travel history of trips you returned from. Keep the money story UK-based. Thin or inconsistent ties and funds evidence is the leading refusal reason from the UK, not nationality. See why Schengen visas are refused and the proof of funds guide.

Fees from the UK for an Iraqi passport

The consulate fee is set EU-wide: €90 for an adult (about £81 at the consulate's own rate), €45 for a child aged 6 to 11, free under 6. Poland's embassy charges £79 and £40 in pounds with no centre fee. The centre adds its own fee, from £15 for Spain to about £45 for France, and insurance costs from about £12. Applying yourself costs about £91 to £138 per adult, paid at the centre on the day; a refusal generally does not refund the consulate fee.

If we prepare and book it, our service fee is £99 for the first applicant and £69 for each extra person on the same trip, up to five per order. Official fees are paid per person at the centre and never through us.

Refusal rates and timing

The Commission's figures are by consulate, not by nationality. For files lodged in the UK in 2025: Spain refused 6.1% of 138,195, France 8.5% of 129,940, Italy 6.0% of 18,956, Germany 3.2% of 32,725, the Netherlands 1.0% of 25,711, Portugal 7.3% of 21,015 and Greece 24.6% of 36,089; see the UK refusal rates page. Standard processing is 15 calendar days from the appointment, up to 45. France's three UK centres allocate appointments from a queue (London and Manchester since 1 August 2026, Edinburgh since 11 September 2026) and Germany runs a waiting list since 1 June 2026; see appointments.

Want it prepared and booked for you?

Our Schengen visa service for the UK completes the forms, builds the document pack to the operator's checklist and books the appointment in your own name on the official system, for a £99 service fee, £69 for each extra traveller. Two written promises: prepared within 24 hours of your complete documents and details, or your service fee back; and your appointment booked within 3 working days of your complete file, subject to availability, or your service fee back. We do not promise a visa, we do not sell slots, and the €90 fee and the centre fee are paid by you at the centre. findmyvisa.co.uk is run by WayaNerd Ltd, company number 16269713, and a person answers on WhatsApp.

Country service pages: Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Greece, Portugal.

Doing it yourself? Use the checklist generator, then the bundler and compressor, and start from the Schengen visa from the UK hub.