Ukrainians and Moldovans Save Hundreds of Millions Yearly on Schengen Fees Post-Visa Liberalisation

Both Ukrainians and Moldovans had to pay substantial visa fees until 2013, but no more.

Ukrainian and Moldovan citizens encountered the obligation of parting with substantial sums in charges for their visa applications until they secured a pact for streamlining the visa process in 2013, in accordance with data from Schengen Statistics.

As the available data illustrates, spanning the period from 2009 to 2013, precisely when the visa facilitation agreement garnered approval, Ukrainian nationals expended a staggering €285 million on their visa applications, while the applications themselves numbered 3.7 million. In parallel, Moldovan nationals submitted 1.1 million visa applications, incurring an expenditure of €89.8 million over the span of four years, as detailed by SchengenVisaInfo.com.

The visa-facilitation agreement confers upon nationals of third countries the privilege to seek visas under more favorable conditions. These conditions include presenting a reduced set of documents and exemptions for specific categories, such as holders of diplomatic positions. Additionally, the agreement entails a reduction in the visa application fees, with applicants now paying a reduced rate of €35 instead of the initial €80, following the agreement's implementation.

On an average scale, Ukrainians disbursed approximately €71.4 million during this aforementioned period. Similarly, Moldovans faced expenses amounting to roughly €22.4 million for visa applications within the same timeframe. Moreover, in cases where visa applications were rejected for these two nationalities, the average amount spent tallied to approximately €2.9 million for Ukrainians and €1.1 million for Moldovans.

Analyzing data available from 2009 to 2013, it becomes evident that the average count of applicants hailing from Ukraine hovered around 892,000. This suggests that since the enforcement of the visa facilitation agreement in 2013, cumulative savings of nearly €9 million have been realized. This implies that over the course of a decade of visa-free travel to the EU, Ukrainians managed to reduce their expenses by an approximate €9 million for their journeys into the borderless zone.

Besart Bajrami, the founder of SchengenVisaInfo.com, offered his insights on the matter, highlighting that the tally of visa applications denied during the period of 2009 to 2013 reached a figure of roughly 36,605. This translated to a squandering of €2.9 million paid by Ukrainian applicants.

“Based on these calculations, from 2013, when the agreement was signed, until 2023, Ukrainians have saved up €29.2 million,” Bajrami emphasized.

Likewise, Moldova's applicants numbered 290,000 during the same span. The expenditure on Schengen visa application fees surged to €5.8 million. Considering that the average count of Moldovan applicants rested at 80,000, the implementation of the visa facilitation agreement in 2013 resulted in a total savings of about €5.8 million for Moldovans.

However, it's noteworthy that the count of declined Moldovan applications from 2009 to 2013 stood at 5,500 on average, signifying a cumulative loss of around €439,000.

“Based on this calculation, Moldovans have saved €4.4 million in total for the ten-decade period since the visa agreement was reached in 2013,” Bajrami expounded.

He further elucidated that following Moldova's attainment of a visa-free travel agreement with the EU in April 2016, its citizens reaped yearly savings of approximately €5.8 million, culminating in a sum of €34.9 million over the years.

Upon scrutinizing the data pertaining to visa applications from Ukrainian nationals between 2009 and 2013, a conspicuous trend emerges. The zenith in application submissions occurred in 2011, with a total of 1.3 million Ukrainians vying for visas. Consequently, the year 2011 singularly witnessed Ukrainians expending a substantial €105 million solely on visa applications, each priced at €80.

While Moldovans constituted a considerably smaller demographic compared to Ukrainians – 3.4 million against 43.7 million, they lodged fewer applications. However, the year 2009 was notable for Moldovans as it saw the highest surge in application numbers, with 131,419 applications submitted. In the subsequent year, this figure dwindled to 51,787. This data underscores that Moldovans bore the brunt of their highest visa application expenses in 2009, amounting to a cumulative €10.5 million.

Source: schengenvisainfo.com