VISA: European Union Increases Schengen Visa Fee

The European Union (EU) has raised Schengen visa application fees from €80 to €90 for adult African and other non-EU citizens.

According to the European Commission, the new visa fees will come into effect on June 11, 2024. “All visa applications submitted on or after this date will be subject to the new fee,” the commission said in a statement on its website.

Children from the age of six years and below the age of 12 years would pay 45 euro each as application fee.

Europe is one of the top destinations for migrating Nigerian youths in search of greener pastures. Non-EU nationals need Schengen visa as an entry permit to make temporary visit of up to 90 days in any 180-day period to a country in the Schengen area.

The 27-member states of the EU are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

According to recent data published by the EU, the consulates of EU countries and Schengen-associated countries received more than 10.3 million applications for short-stay visas in 2023. This was a 37% increase compared to 2022 (7.5 million), but it is still lower than the number of applications in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic (17 million).