Which Nationalities Lead Spanish Visa Application Statistics?
Expat Tips
Published: 30 October 2023 18:10 CET
Updated: 24 November 2023 18:10 CET
In the period spanning 2017 to 2022, Spanish visa applications witnessed a significant surge, primarily driven by Russian nationals, who set a new record with a staggering 1.8 million applications. Schengen Statistics reveals that Russian applicants dominated the scene, outpacing the second-largest group, Moroccans, by more than double, as they submitted 1.8 million applications compared to 972,000 filed by Moroccans.
Application rates from Russian nationals peaked in 2019, with a record-breaking 568,681 requests, only to plummet dramatically the following year, primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to a mere 58,817 applications. This sharp decline in Russian applicants amounted to a 70.6 percent decrease.
Diversity in Visa Applications: The Continent of Origin
Apart from Russians and Moroccans, the list of top ten visa applicants to Spain between 2017 and 2022 features diverse nationalities. China, Algeria, India, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, the United Kingdom, and the Dominican Republic make up the remainder of this list. Interestingly, half of these nationalities hail from the Asian continent, namely Russia, China, India, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye.
Nevertheless, South American applicants continue to show remarkable consistency in filing visa applications to Spain, with Ecuador and the Dominican Republic ranking sixth and tenth, respectively. Ecuador submitted 248,213 applications, while the Dominican Republic contributed 141,604.
Visa Application Trends Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic
In the post-pandemic era, several nationalities experienced significant fluctuations in their visa application rates. Chinese nationals, the third-largest group with 783,204 applications, saw a substantial decline, plummeting from 291,637 visa applications in 2019 to just 8,201 in 2022, marking a staggering 97.1 percent decrease.
Asian nationalities in general saw a decline in visa applications, including a 4.3 percent decrease for Saudi Arabia and a 24.4 percent drop for Turkiye. South American applicants also witnessed a 6.6 percent decrease, particularly for Dominican Republic nationals.
However, some nationalities have made a remarkable comeback in visa applications to Spain, especially when compared to pre-pandemic levels. The United Kingdom saw a significant change, with an increase from approximately 29,466 applications in 2019 to 61,005 in 2022, indicating a soaring interest among Brits to move to Spain.
Ecuadorians also showed an upward trend, with visa applications rising from 56,834 in 2019 to 58,141, and from 24,503 in 2019 to 29,297 applications in 2022. These shifts in application rates reflect the evolving landscape of Spanish visa applicants amidst the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: SchengenVisa.info
