For most Ghanaians, applying for a Schengen visa is arduous, even traumatic, because the chances of being rejected is higher and the fees paid in advance are not refundable. One of the reasons for rejection could be as simple as the visa officer’s suspicion that the applicant is not likely to return to Ghana.

This goes for all categories of Ghanaians – professors in the country’s large universities, journalists, business people and students. There is no discrimination. Everyone’s applications can be rejected, even for university professors presenting papers at scientific conferences. Journalists on fully paid trips to cover conferences and students on full scholarships are also often rejected, and some are rejected multiple times.

Visa and other mission officials do not comment on individual visa issues.

In 2024 alone the Schengen countries made a total of more than GH¢65.5 million in total visa fees – that is the equivalent of more than €5 million. There were 56,032 applications and at each application session – there are multiple for some who reapply after being rejected – applicants pay €90 or GH¢1,170 at current exchange rate of GH¢13 to €1.

Of the total number of applications, 29,890 were issued and 24,945 were rejected making a loss of GH¢29 million to Ghanaians.

According to a London School of Economics article, unequal visa regimes cost the world’s poorest over €100 million every year.

The authors of the article citing data from 2023 say that rejection rates of short-term visitor visas to Europe continue to be disproportionately high for low and middle-income countries – as in 2022, the poorer the country, the higher the rejection rates. African countries are disproportionately affected, with rejection rates as high as 40-50 per cent for countries like Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria, they wrote.

In 2023 Ghanaians paid £1.8 million for UK visas with no benefit.

A CNN report indicates that in total, African countries lost €60 million ($67.5 million) in rejected Schengen visa fees in 2024, citing analysis from the LAGO Collective, a London-based research and arts organization which has been monitoring data on European short-term visas since 2022 and notes Africa is the continent worst affected by the cost of visa rejections.

For instance, Ghanaians paid a total of $11 million in visa application fees to the US Embassy in Accra in 2024.

By Emmanuel K Dogbevi