Kosovo, Kuwait & Qatar nationals filed the most visa applications per capita in 2022 to Europe.

Nationals from Qatar, Kuwaiti and Kosovo filed the most visa applications per capita in 2022 to Europe, according to new figures.

Statistics compiled by SchengenVisaInfo.com indicated that Qatar stands third with the number of applicants per capita at 2,939 applicants per 100,000 inhabitants.

It follows Kosovo, which has 6,891 applicants per 100,000 inhabitants, and Kuwait, which has 3,426. By sheer number, Turkey, Russia, and India have filed the most number of applications.

There were 79,859 visa applications in Qatar, from which 53,870 multiple entry visas and a further 626 long-term stay visas were issued. Meanwhile, 8,837 visas were rejected, creating an acceptance rate of 88.9%.

This is a considerable increase in applications from 2021, when there were only 44,416 applications, and from 2020, when there were only 15,893 applications. But the numbers haven’t rebounded from the pre-pandemic high of 94,891 applications in 2019.

This also implies that 2.9 percent of the population in Qatar, which has a population of 2.7 million, applied in 2022. By sheer value, the number of applications ranks 24th.

In April last year, the European Commission proposed an entry visa exemption for Qatari and Kuwaiti citizens travelling to its member states for up to 90 days. The move would see the two Gulf states would join the UAE, which was added to the visa-free regime in 2014.

The decision would be applicable to all EU member states except for Ireland. Other Schengen associated countries that are not subject to the visa waiver include Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

Qatar had welcomed the proposal, describing it as “an evidence of improving bilateral ties in all fields” between the Gulf state and the EU.

In June last year, the Council of the European Union said the move to negotiate such a mandate was approved by the Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper), SchengenVisaInfo.com said at the time.