EU to increase Schengen visa application fee by June 11
MANILA, Philippines — The Slovenian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs announced that third country nationals who will apply for Schengen visa will have to pay higher fees starting June 11 this year.
In a statement, the Slovenian Ministry said that the fee for Schengen visa application for third country nationals will increase by 12% following the decision adopted by the European Commission.
VFS Global, a commercial company, working in partnership with Netherlands Embassy, to provide support services to people applying for a visa to enter the Kingdom of the Netherlands, also informed its clients in a notice posted last May 25.
The Slovenian Ministry said that given the fee hike, adults who are applying for a short-term visa or Visa Type C to Slovenia and other European Union countries will now need to pay EUR 90, a hike from the previous EUR 80. Children aged six to 12 years old, on the other hand, will be charged EUR 45 from EUR 40, according to the report of SchengenNews.
“The increase will apply worldwide as of June 11, 2024,” it added.
SchengenNews also reported that nationals from countries who have not cooperated on the readmission of their nationals irregularly staying in the Schengen states will have to pay higher visa fees of either EUR135 or EUR180, depending on the council’s decision.
The looming Schengen visa application fee increase will be implemented after EU registered a 36.3% increase in the number of visas issued in 2023, compared from the previous year.
The figure is still lower by 39% compared to 2019, the full-year before global COVID-19 restrictions when the EU received 16 million applications.
Last year, a total of 200,973 Filipinos applied for Schengen visa. Of which, 187,808 were approved, equivalent to an approval rate of around 93.46, according to Schengen News.
The Filipino applicants spent €16,077,840 on Schengen visa applications that year.
If the same number of people will apply starting June 11, Filipinos’ total expenditure will amount to EUR18,087,570 or an increase of EUR2,009,730.
The standard Schengen visa fee last implemented an increase from EUR60 to EUR80 in January 2020.
That year, data from SchengenVisaInfo showed that Philippine passport holders who are applying for Schengen Visa rose by 43% since 2015 with 189,541 applicants recorded in 2019, a jump from only 132,611 visa applications in 2015.
The visa information site also said that 17 million Schengen visa applications were filed at the Schengen embassies in 2019.
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