Schengen refusal rates at UAE consulates 2025

UAE refusal rate: 24.2%
Worldwide: 14.6%
Applications decided here: 294,849
Refused: 71,261

An application made from the UAE was 1.65× as likely to be refused as the global average in 2025. The gap widened slightly from the year before, when the UAE rate was 23.8% against 14.8% worldwide.

Read this before you read the table.

A refusal rate describes a group of applications, not yours. A consulate whose applicants are mostly long-settled residents with strong documentation will show a low rate no matter how strictly it decides, and a consulate handling a harder mix will show a high one. These figures are context for understanding the landscape — they are not a probability that your application succeeds.

They are also not a menu. The member state that must receive your application is fixed by your main destination, then longest stay, then first entry. Choosing a consulate to chase a better rate is itself a refusal ground. Check which one is responsible for your trip.

Every UAE consulate, 2025

Sorted by refusal rate, highest first. "Decided" is applications issued plus refused, which is the denominator the Commission uses. Movement compares with 2024; a blank means the consulate did not report both years.

"Deciding post" is not where you go. It is the embassy or consulate general holding consular jurisdiction, which is how the Commission breaks these figures down. The place you physically hand over documents is an outsourced application centre, and the two are often in different emirates — Germany decides every UAE application from its Dubai consulate but runs collection centres in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Which centre takes your file is a separate question from which post decides it.

Filter by country or emirate

Destination	Deciding post	Decided	Refused	Refusal rate	vs 2024
Netherlands Too few decisions to be meaningful	Abu Dhabi	1	1	—	—
Bulgaria	Dubai	4,251	2,473	58.2%	+22.2pp
Luxembourg	Abu Dhabi	1,008	489	48.5%	+20.1pp
Malta	Dubai	6,882	3,228	46.9%	—
Estonia	Abu Dhabi	468	217	46.4%	-19.4pp
Croatia	Dubai	1,991	848	42.6%	-3.2pp
Sweden	Abu Dhabi	6,214	2,532	40.7%	-0.4pp
Hungary	Abu Dhabi	10,333	3,636	35.2%	+1.7pp
Poland	Abu Dhabi	3,160	1,027	32.5%	+16.3pp
Denmark	Dubai	16,705	5,319	31.8%	-12.7pp
Slovakia	Abu Dhabi	1,132	357	31.5%	-1.2pp
Norway	Abu Dhabi	16,232	4,958	30.5%	+3.0pp
Netherlands	Dubai	31,095	9,481	30.5%	+9.7pp
Slovenia	Abu Dhabi	1,059	286	27.0%	-1.9pp
Czech Republic	Abu Dhabi	8,961	2,150	24.0%	-2.4pp
Germany	Dubai	40,435	8,883	22.0%	-5.0pp
Lithuania	Abu Dhabi	283	62	21.9%	-2.7pp
Italy	Dubai	19,422	4,207	21.7%	+6.3pp
Switzerland	Abu Dhabi	25,603	5,449	21.3%	-0.0pp
Portugal	Abu Dhabi	2,594	527	20.3%	+4.4pp
Belgium	Abu Dhabi	7,380	1,462	19.8%	+1.8pp
Finland	Abu Dhabi	1,598	287	18.0%	-7.5pp
France	Abu Dhabi	28,107	4,702	16.7%	-2.2pp
Austria	Abu Dhabi	6,813	1,116	16.4%	-8.8pp
Greece	Abu Dhabi	13,544	2,117	15.6%	-1.4pp
Romania	Dubai	1,093	158	14.5%	-1.5pp
Spain	Abu Dhabi	29,594	4,171	14.1%	-4.2pp
Italy	Abu Dhabi	7,976	1,029	12.9%	-4.2pp
Latvia	Abu Dhabi	753	82	10.9%	+4.7pp
Malta Too few decisions to be meaningful	Abu Dhabi	162	7	—	—

2 consulates are shown without a rate: Netherlands (Abu Dhabi, 1 decided); Malta (Abu Dhabi, 162 decided). Below 200 decisions a percentage is arithmetic rather than information — the 2025 file contains a Netherlands Abu Dhabi row with a single decided application, which would otherwise read as a 100% refusal rate.

Same country, different emirate

This is the part that does not appear on any general Schengen site. A few member states run two consular posts in the UAE rather than one, each deciding its own jurisdiction — and they do not necessarily decide alike. Which one handles you is set by where your residence visa was issued, not by which you would prefer.

Note this is a different thing from a country running two collection centres. Most do. The states below appear twice in the Commission's data because they have two decision-making posts, which is why a gap between them is meaningful.

Destination	Deciding post	Decided	Refusal rate
Netherlands	Abu Dhabi	1	too few
Netherlands	Dubai	31,095	30.5%
Malta	Dubai	6,882	46.9%
Malta	Abu Dhabi	162	too few
Italy	Dubai	19,422	21.7%
Italy	Abu Dhabi	7,976	12.9%

Italy is the clearest case, and it is verifiable rather than inferred: its Embassy in Abu Dhabi decides for Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafra through BLS International, while its Consulate General in Dubai decides for Dubai and the Northern Emirates through VFS Global. Two posts, two operators, two jurisdictions — and a visible gap in outcomes on real volume in both. Which one you fall under is fixed by your residence visa, so this is not a formality. The full operator mapping sets out what is confirmed and what is still open.

What moved most since 2024

The strongest argument against treating any single year as settled. Several consulates moved by more than ten percentage points in twelve months.

Bulgaria

Dubai · 4,251 decided

35.9% → 58.2%

+22.2pp harder

Luxembourg

Abu Dhabi · 1,008 decided

28.5% → 48.5%

+20.1pp harder

Estonia

Abu Dhabi · 468 decided

65.7% → 46.4%

-19.4pp easier

Poland

Abu Dhabi · 3,160 decided

16.2% → 32.5%

+16.3pp harder

Denmark

Dubai · 16,705 decided

44.6% → 31.8%

-12.7pp easier

Netherlands

Dubai · 31,095 decided

20.8% → 30.5%

+9.7pp harder

Highest and lowest, 2025

Consulates with at least 200 decided applications only.

Highest refusal rates

Bulgaria (Dubai) — 58.2%
Luxembourg (Abu Dhabi) — 48.5%
Malta (Dubai) — 46.9%
Estonia (Abu Dhabi) — 46.4%
Croatia (Dubai) — 42.6%

Lowest refusal rates

Latvia (Abu Dhabi) — 10.9%
Italy (Abu Dhabi) — 12.9%
Spain (Abu Dhabi) — 14.1%
Romania (Dubai) — 14.5%
Greece (Abu Dhabi) — 15.6%

Remember that responsibility for your application is fixed by your itinerary. These rankings explain the landscape; they do not offer you a choice.

Why UAE refusal rates run high

The honest answer is that nobody outside the consulates can decompose it precisely, and anyone claiming to is guessing. What the data supports saying is narrower: the UAE's applicant population is overwhelmingly third-country nationals on renewable residence permits rather than citizens of the country they are applying from. Consulates assessing intention to return are weighing a residence permit that itself expires, which is a materially different question from the one they weigh for a settled citizen.

That is why the documents proving your position in the UAE — the validity left on your residence visa, your employer's letter, the shape of your bank statement — carry more weight here than the general guides suggest. It is also why the same passport can be assessed differently from Dubai than from its home country.

What the numbers do not support is the common claim that particular nationalities are refused at particular rates from the UAE. The Commission publishes this data by consulate, not by the applicant's nationality, so any per-passport refusal rate you see quoted for the UAE has been inferred rather than measured.

Sources and last review

European Commission — Schengen visa statistics for consulates, 2025 (published 2026-05-28)

Reviewed 2026-08-23. Visa rules, fees and the figures each member state publishes change without notice, and a consular officer decides your individual application on its own facts. Always confirm against the consulate's own published information before you apply or pay. This page is general information, not legal advice, and it is not affiliated with the European Union or with any government.

Common questions

What is the Schengen visa refusal rate in the UAE?

In 2025, 71,261 of 294,849 decided applications at UAE consulates were refused — a rate of 24.2%. That compares with 14.6% worldwide on the same measure, so an application made from the UAE was about 1.65 times as likely to be refused as the global average.

Which Schengen country is hardest to get a visa from in the UAE?

On 2025 figures the highest refusal rate among consulates with meaningful volume was Bulgaria in Dubai, at 58.2%. Rates move year to year, sometimes sharply, so check the movement column rather than treating one year as permanent.

Which Schengen country is easiest to get from Dubai or Abu Dhabi?

The lowest refusal rate with meaningful volume in 2025 was Latvia in Abu Dhabi, at 10.9%. This does not mean you may apply there: the member state responsible for your application is fixed by your main destination, not by where you would prefer to apply.

Does a low refusal rate mean my application will be approved?

No. A refusal rate describes a population of applications, not yours. It reflects who applies to that consulate as much as how that consulate decides — a post handling mostly long-standing residents with strong documentation will show a low rate regardless of how strict it is. Treat these figures as context, not as a probability of success.

Can I apply to whichever country refuses the fewest applications?

No, and attempting it is itself a refusal ground. The responsible member state is determined by the main destination of your trip, falling back to the longest stay and then to first entry. Applying elsewhere to chase a better rate is treated as an inadmissible or fraudulent application.

Where do these numbers come from?

The European Commission publishes short-stay visa statistics broken down by individual consulate each year. The figures here were read directly from that workbook for 2025, published 2026-05-28, and checked on 2026-08-23. The Commission's own refusal-rate definition is used throughout: refusals divided by applications decided, not by applications received.

Schengen visa refusal rates at UAE consulates