Schengen Visa Refusal Rates From the UK 2025: 1% to 32%

Every country, ranked by 2025 refusal rate

Official European Commission data for applications decided at consulates located in the United Kingdom, full year 2025, with 2024 alongside. The rate is refusals divided by decided applications (issued plus refused), the EU's own method.

Small-sample caution: Slovenia, Slovakia and Sweden decided only a few hundred applications or fewer at UK consulates, so their rates swing wildly year to year. Sweden's six applications reflect how few cases its UK consulate decides directly.

What the data says

• Refusals are rising. Across all UK consulates, 10.6 percent of decided applications were refused in 2025, up from 7.0 percent in 2024. That is roughly 53,400 refused applications in one year, each costing its applicant the 90 euro consulate fee plus the centre fee.
• The gap between countries is enormous. The Netherlands refused 1 in 100 UK applications; Iceland refused 1 in 3. Both issue the same Schengen visa, valid for the same 29 countries.
• The big two stay moderate. France (129,940 applications) refused 8.5 percent and Spain (138,195) refused 6.1 percent. Together they decide more than half of all UK Schengen applications.
• Some rates doubled in a year. Greece went from 10.3 to 24.6 percent, Iceland from 14.5 to 32.0, Bulgaria from 10.7 to 28.7, Poland from 3.0 to 13.7.
• The city you apply in can matter. Spain refused 2.2 percent of applications decided in Edinburgh, 5.9 percent in London and 8.0 percent in Manchester. Germany showed the same pattern: 1.2 percent in Edinburgh against 3.3 percent in London.

Can I just apply to the easiest country?

No, and trying is itself a refusal ground. You must apply to your main destination, the country where you will spend the most nights, or the country of first entry when stays are equal. Applying to the Netherlands for a holiday in Iceland is exactly the kind of inconsistency consulates refuse. What the table is useful for is planning honestly: if your trip genuinely splits between two countries, which country you lodge with is your choice to make within the rules, and this data shows the stakes.

Why applications get refused

The grounds are the same everywhere: doubts you will return to the UK (weak ties), inconsistent or insufficient financial evidence, missing or inadequate travel insurance, unclear itineraries, and wrong-country applications. Our refusals guide covers the remonstration and reapplication process if it has already happened to you.

A refusal costs more than the fees. It is recorded in the Schengen information systems, and every future application form asks about it. The honest way to use this page is as a reason to prepare properly, not to avoid particular countries.

The method, exactly

Source: the European Commission's annual Schengen visa statistics for consulates, 2024 and 2025 editions, rows for consulates located in the United Kingdom, extracted 23 August 2026. Rate = uniform visas not issued divided by decided applications (issued plus not issued), the same formula the Commission uses. Multi-city states (France, Spain, Germany, Italy and others with London, Manchester or Edinburgh centres) are aggregated; the city split is noted where it is instructive. Airport transit visas are excluded. "No data" means the consulate reported no decided applications that year.