Kenya’s Schengen visa refusal rate climbs to 33.1% as Norway posts the toughest results in Nairobi

Kenya’s applications face markedly lower odds than the global average

Kenyan travellers applying for short-stay Schengen visas faced a more difficult year in 2025, according to European Commission statistics released in May 2026 and analysed this week by Kenyan media. The figures show that 77,760 applications were lodged in Kenya and 25,227 were not issued a visa, producing a not-issued rate of 33.1%. That is more than twice the worldwide average refusal rate of 14.6% across Schengen and associated consulates. ([home-affairs.ec.europa.eu](https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/schengen-short-stay-visa-applications-rise-2025-remain-below-pre-pandemic-levels-2026-05-28_en))

The Commission’s data are not a direct measure of the success rate of Kenyan passport holders alone. Instead, they count applications submitted at consulates in Kenya, regardless of the applicant’s nationality. That distinction matters because the Kenya-based figures also capture foreigners living in or passing through the country who applied there. Still, the numbers offer a clear picture of the environment facing applicants at Schengen missions in Nairobi during the year. ([home-affairs.ec.europa.eu](https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen/visa-policy/short-stay-visas-issued-schengen-countries_en))

The Commission also said total Schengen demand rose in 2025, with EU and Schengen-associated consulates receiving more than 12 million applications, up 4.3% from 2024, while the global refusal rate eased slightly to 14.6% from 14.8%. In that broader context, Kenya’s 33.1% rate stood out as a significantly harsher outcome than the worldwide norm. ([home-affairs.ec.europa.eu](https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/schengen-short-stay-visa-applications-rise-2025-remain-below-pre-pandemic-levels-2026-05-28_en))

Norway recorded the highest refusal rate in Nairobi

The sharpest country-level contrast in Nairobi came from Norway, which posted a 60.9% not-issued rate for 2025 applications lodged in Kenya. That made it the toughest Schengen mission in the capital on the Commission’s figures, and a steep deterioration from the 35.6% rate recorded there in 2024. The Norwegian total also illustrates how strongly outcomes can vary from one consulate to another even within the same city. ([beta.the-star.co.ke](https://beta.the-star.co.ke/news/2026-08-27-report-kenyas-eu-visa-rejection-rate-is-more-than-twice-the-global-average))

At the other end of the scale, Czechia recorded a 16.7% refusal rate and Spain 16.9%, making them the least restrictive among the consulates cited in the Kenyan reports. Switzerland followed at 18.7%, the Netherlands at 19.4%, Italy at 19.9%, Greece at 23.5%, France at 26.2% and Germany at 29%. These spreads suggest that, in practice, the choice of consulate can heavily shape an applicant’s odds even before a file is assessed on its individual merits. ([beta.the-star.co.ke](https://beta.the-star.co.ke/news/2026-08-27-report-kenyas-eu-visa-rejection-rate-is-more-than-twice-the-global-average))

Sweden processed the largest number of applications among the individual Nairobi consulates, with about 15,699 requests, while recording a not-issued rate of roughly 40%. Belgium and Hungary were also said to have refusal rates around or above 40%. The Commission’s data therefore point to a dual pattern in Kenya: high volumes through some missions, and very uneven decision-making across the capital’s Schengen network. ([beta.the-star.co.ke](https://beta.the-star.co.ke/news/2026-08-27-report-kenyas-eu-visa-rejection-rate-is-more-than-twice-the-global-average))

Why the figures matter for Kenyan travellers

For many Kenyan travellers, the headline number is not just a statistic but a budgeting issue. A Schengen visa application requires payment of a non-refundable fee, and applicants can spend more on document collection, travel to appointments, translations, and supporting paperwork before a decision is even made. When rejection rates are this high, a failed application can represent a meaningful financial loss as well as a missed trip. That reality helps explain why visa statistics attract so much attention in Kenya. ([home-affairs.ec.europa.eu](https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/schengen-short-stay-visa-applications-rise-2025-remain-below-pre-pandemic-levels-2026-05-28_en))

The Commission does not publish a breakdown by purpose of travel in the Kenya-by-consulate tables cited here, so the data cannot tell us whether tourists, family visitors, business travellers or students were rejected more often. It also does not identify the reasons behind individual refusals. However, the scale of the gap between Kenya’s rate and the global average indicates that applicants in Nairobi encountered an unusually strict environment in 2025, at least by Schengen standards. This is an inference from the published data rather than an official explanation from the Commission. ([home-affairs.ec.europa.eu](https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen/visa-policy/short-stay-visas-issued-schengen-countries_en))

The pattern also fits a wider African picture. The Commission said refusal rates were high in several African filing locations in 2025, including Burundi at 53.4%, Senegal at 51.9% and the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 40.1%. Kenya’s 33.1% rate is lower than those extremes, but it still places the country well above the overall Schengen average and in a group of markets where securing a visa remains unusually difficult. ([home-affairs.ec.europa.eu](https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/schengen-short-stay-visa-applications-rise-2025-remain-below-pre-pandemic-levels-2026-05-28_en))

A reminder that consulate choice can shape the outcome

One of the most important takeaways from the 2025 figures is that visa outcomes in Kenya are not uniform. The gap between the least and most restrictive Nairobi consulates in the figures cited by Kenyan media is large enough to change the practical experience of applicants substantially, even before differences in personal profiles are considered. That makes the system feel fragmented to travellers, especially when one embassy’s refusal rate is nearly four times another’s. ([beta.the-star.co.ke](https://beta.the-star.co.ke/news/2026-08-27-report-kenyas-eu-visa-rejection-rate-is-more-than-twice-the-global-average))

The Commission’s own page stresses that the statistics are organised by where applications are lodged, not by citizenship. That means the Kenya numbers are best understood as a snapshot of demand and decision-making in Kenya-based Schengen missions, not a definitive ranking of Kenyan nationals as applicants worldwide. Even so, the data underline a persistent concern for travellers in Kenya: the journey to Europe often begins with a wide and unpredictable gate. ([home-affairs.ec.europa.eu](https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen/visa-policy/short-stay-visas-issued-schengen-countries_en))

Bottom line

Kenya’s 2025 Schengen visa results point to a tougher-than-average year for applicants, with a 33.1% not-issued rate versus a 14.6% global average and Norway’s Nairobi mission recording the steepest rejection rate of all the consulates cited. The Commission’s figures do not explain why decisions differed so sharply, but they do show that where an application is lodged can matter almost as much as the application itself. ([home-affairs.ec.europa.eu](https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/schengen-short-stay-visa-applications-rise-2025-remain-below-pre-pandemic-levels-2026-05-28_en))

Editorial note

This article is based on the European Commission’s published 2025 Schengen visa statistics and corroborated by independent reporting from The Star and The Eastleigh Voice, both of which cited the same official dataset. It avoids extrapolating beyond the published figures and distinguishes between hard numbers and interpretation. ([home-affairs.ec.europa.eu](https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/schengen-short-stay-visa-applications-rise-2025-remain-below-pre-pandemic-levels-2026-05-28_en))

Sources:

• European Commission – Short-stay visas issued by Schengen countries
• European Commission – Schengen short-stay visa applications rise in 2025 but remain below pre-pandemic levels
• The Star – Report: Kenya’s EU visa rejection rate is more than twice the global average
• The Eastleigh Voice – Over 25,000 Schengen visa applications rejected in Kenya in 2025 as rejection rate hits 33 per cent