Top 10 Easiest Countries to Get a Schengen Visa

If you’re planning for a Europe trip in late 2025 or early 2026 and you need a Schengen visa. While individual decisions still depend on your documents and travel history, approval-rate trends show that some Schengen states approve a significantly higher share of applications than others.

Official 2025 figures are not available yet, so the most useful benchmark remains approval-rate data. In that year, overall approvals across the Schengen area were around 52.2%, but several countries sat far above that average.

Top 10 Easiest Schengen Countries (by approval rate)

Based on reported approval rates, these were the most “visa-friendly” countries:

The list differs from 2023, when countries such as Germany, Latvia, Poland and Lithuania were among the top performers, highlighting that rankings can shift year to year.

If you’re visiting one country only: apply to that country’s embassy/consulate/visa center. But if you’re visiting multiple Schengen countries: apply to the country where you’ll spend the most time (your “main destination”).

Applications are typically submitted through the destination country’s embassy/consulate, an authorized visa application center, or another Schengen country’s mission officially handling visas on its behalf.

Submitting to the wrong authority can mean delays, or no processing at all.

Schengen countries received more than 11.7 million visa applications in 2024. High demand generally translates into tighter appointment availability, longer processing times, and closer scrutiny, especially around peak travel periods.

Even if a country approves 90% of applications, a weak submission can still be refused. Common rejection triggers include missing documents, an unclear itinerary, inconsistent information, or insufficient proof of finances and ties to home.