One out of ten Moldovans is refused the Schengen visa

Every 10-th citizen of Moldova needing Schengen visa is refused, according to the international survey “visa policy of EU member states”, presented on Tuesday, 25 July, in Chisinau. The survey explored the way is issued the visa to the citizens of 4 eastern European states – Moldova, Belarus, Russian Federation and Ukraine, by the 8 EU member states – Poland, Finland, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Germany and Lithuania. Of the aforementioned states, Belarusian citizens get the great majority of refuses – 28%, followed by Ukrainians – 14%. At the same time, only 2% of Russians requesting visa for those 8 states are refused. The survey also shows that to a larger extent are refused male, students and unemployed visa applicants, and those aged 18-25, as well as those who are over 60 years. The survey’s authors also mention that the longest lasting visa procedure is for the Czech Republic (14 days) and Germany (8 days). The fastest, visas are issued by Poland (2 days) and Great Britain (3 days). One of the shortcomings of the visa system, in experts’ opinion, is the fact that the cause of the refuse is not announced. This happens in 79% of the refuse cases issued by France, 75% - Germany, 44% - Great Britain etc. The survey was made by the Stefan Batory Foundation with the financial support of the East East Program, Soros Moldova Foundation. The researches for Moldova were made in cooperation with the Institute for Public Policies.