Swiss authorities granted 42,252 visa requests from Thai applicants in 2023

Swiss authorities granted 42,252 visa requests from Thai applicants in 2023, showing that over 97 per cent of all visa requests filed by this nationality were approved.

According to statistics published by SchengenVisaInfo, Thailand is the fifth country with the highest approval rates for Switzerland visas, falling behind applicants from Australia, New Zealand, Chile, and Taiwan, Schengen.News reports.

However, although the majority of visa applications were approved, Swiss authorities were not generous with multiple entry visas. Only 8,587 or 20.32 per cent of visas issued were multiple entries, indicating that most Thais visiting the Schengen Area had the right to only one single entry.

Thailand Nationals Filed Highest Number of Schengen Visa Applications to Switzerland Last Year

Switzerland received the most visa requests from Thai nationals in 2023 – a total of 43,441 out of 270,504 that were submitted. The second most popular destination for Thai visa applicants was France, which received 42,715 requests, whereas 40,877 applications were submitted to Germany, ranking the country as the top third recipient.

Italy received 30,757 visa applications, taking the total number of applications that Thais filed to these four countries to 157,790. Switzerland, France, Germany, and Italy received more than half (58.3 per cent) of all applications that Thai nationals filed in 2023.

Applicants from Thailand had quite a high approval rate for their Schengen visa applications in 2023. Considering that Thailand is the tenth country of origin for visa applications, approval rates stand out.

Data reveals that out of 270,504 applications filed, 93.16 per cent, or 252,013, were granted. This makes Thailand the 28th country with the highest approval rates for the year.

Based on the number of visas issued out of all applications filed by nationals of Thailand, these countries were more likely to grant Schengen visas in 2023:

1. Austria approved 97.46 per cent of visa applications filed by Thais, representing 12,873 visas
2. Switzerland – 97.26 per cent (42,252)
3. Czechia – 96.14 per cent (3,060)
4. Italy – 96.08 per cent (29,551)
5. Portugal – 96.01 per cent (2,481)

Countries with the highest rejection rates for Thai applicants were Sweden (16.57 per cent), Poland (14.22 per cent), Belgium (13.87 per cent), the Netherlands (87.34 per cent) and Finland (89.64 per cent).