Easiest Schengen visa from the United States (2025): countries with the lowest refusal rate

Which Schengen country has the lowest rejection rate for applicants from the United States? Official 2025 figures from the European Commission for every Schengen country and consulate that decided at least 500 applications made in the United States, ranked from the lowest not-issued rate to the highest. Rates describe past decisions, not your chances.

Easiest Schengen visaUnited States · 2025

Lowest not-issued rate · applications made in the United States · 2025: Greece: 0.4% not issued (25 of 6,304 decisions)

Swedenhighest rate: 20.5%

4.9%all Schengen countries, applications made in the United States

21countries with 500+ decisions

62consulates with 500+ decisions

Rates are by the country where the application was made, not by passport: these are all applications lodged in the United States. Full figures, consulate by consulate and the UK: Schengen visa rejection rate United States 2025.

Source: European Commission, Visa statistics for consulates 2025 (XLSX, downloaded on 15 October 2026). Short-stay (Schengen) visas, calendar year. All years on the Commission website.

Statistics, not advice. These are official figures for all applications made in a past period. They cannot predict the decision on your application, and a lower rate does not make a visa easier for you: you must apply to the Schengen country where you will spend the most time (or, for equal stays, the one you enter first), at the consulate responsible for the place where you legally live. Always follow the consulate's official requirements.

Lowest and highest refusal rates for applicants from the United States (2025)

The 5 Schengen countries with the lowest not-issued rate and the 3 with the highest, among the 21 that decided at least 500 applications made in the United States.

Lowest refusal rates

1Greece6,304 decisions0.4%
2Netherlands12,752 decisions0.5%
3Bulgaria637 decisions0.8%
4Italy13,558 decisions1.5%
5Hungary856 decisions1.8%

Highest refusal rates

1Sweden5,064 decisions20.5%
2Denmark4,330 decisions14.9%
3Finland1,526 decisions10.6%

A lower rate is not a guarantee, and you cannot choose freely. You must apply to the country of your main destination (or, for equal stays, the first you enter), at the consulate responsible for where you legally live: the rule is on the European Commission page on applying for a Schengen visa (checked on 15 October 2026). Rates describe past decisions, not your chances.

Source: European Commission, Visa statistics for consulates 2025 (XLSX, downloaded on 15 October 2026). Short-stay (Schengen) visas, calendar year. All years on the Commission website.

All Schengen countries ranked, applications made in the United States (2025)

Countries with at least 500 decisions, from the lowest not-issued rate. Tap a column heading to sort. "Change" is in percentage points on 2024. Not ranked (fewer than 500 decisions): Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia; their figures are on the main United States page.


1	Greece	0.4%	0.9%	−0.5 pts	6,304	25
2	Netherlands	0.5%	1.3%	−0.8 pts	12,752	69
3	Bulgaria	0.8%	1.6%	−0.8 pts	637	5
4	Italy	1.5%	0.9%	+0.6 pts	13,558	201
5	Hungary	1.8%	2.1%	−0.3 pts	856	15
6	Czech Republic	2.5%	1.1%	+1.4 pts	1,102	27
7	Croatia	2.5%	1.0%	+1.6 pts	918	23
8	Norway	3.3%	17.1%	−13.9 pts	3,846	125
9	Germany	3.8%	3.5%	+0.3 pts	22,978	871
10	Austria	4.0%	5.7%	−1.7 pts	3,446	139
11	France	4.2%	3.1%	+1.1 pts	56,509	2,377
12	Switzerland	4.3%	3.2%	+1.1 pts	9,589	410
13	Portugal	4.7%	0.6%	+4.1 pts	4,926	230
14	Poland	4.9%	2.4%	+2.5 pts	1,603	78
15	Spain	6.2%	4.0%	+2.2 pts	24,457	1,517
16	Lithuania	7.0%	7.0%	no change	739	52
17	Belgium	8.6%	3.5%	+5.1 pts	2,790	240
18	Iceland	9.2%	5.6%	+3.6 pts	7,692	705
19	Finland	10.6%	18.5%	−8.0 pts	1,526	161
20	Denmark	14.9%	9.7%	+5.1 pts	4,330	644
21	Sweden	20.5%	18.1%	+2.4 pts	5,064	1,036

Source: European Commission, Visa statistics for consulates 2025 (XLSX, downloaded on 15 October 2026); European Commission, Visa statistics for consulates 2024 (XLSX, downloaded on 15 October 2026). Short-stay (Schengen) visas, calendar year. All years on the Commission website.

Consulates in the United States with the lowest refusal rates

Each consulate or visa section that decided at least 500 applications in 2025, from the lowest rate. Where a Schengen country is represented by another, the applications appear under the country that decided them.


1	Greece	Boston, MA	0.0%	555	0
2	Greece	Houston, TX	0.0%	641	0
3	Greece	San Francisco, CA	0.0%	621	0
4	Spain	San Francisco, CA	0.0%	1,496	0
5	Spain	Los Angeles, CA	0.0%	2,226	1
6	Netherlands	Miami, FL	0.2%	1,966	4
7	Netherlands	San Francisco, CA	0.4%	4,752	18
8	Italy	Washington, DC	0.4%	753	3
9	Greece	Chicago, IL	0.4%	705	3
10	Greece	Washington, DC	0.4%	1,343	6
11	Netherlands	Washington, DC	0.5%	1,389	7
12	Greece	New York, NY	0.5%	1,520	8
13	Italy	Boston, MA	0.5%	1,833	10
14	Switzerland	Atlanta, GA	0.6%	1,655	10
15	Italy	Philadelphia, PA	0.7%	1,537	11
16	Netherlands	New York, NY	0.8%	3,489	29
17	Switzerland	Washington, DC	0.8%	1,070	9
18	Germany	San Francisco, CA	0.9%	4,862	46
19	Netherlands	Chicago, IL	1.0%	1,156	11
20	Italy	San Francisco, CA	1.0%	1,198	12
21	Spain	Houston, TX	1.1%	2,408	27
22	Belgium	Los Angeles, CA	1.3%	555	7
23	Italy	Miami, FL	1.3%	1,019	13
24	Italy	Detroit, MI	1.3%	1,209	16
25	Spain	Washington, DC	1.4%	2,246	31
26	Spain	Miami, FL	1.4%	6,003	86
27	Spain	Chicago, IL	1.5%	2,199	32
28	Italy	Los Angeles, CA	1.6%	566	9
29	Portugal	New York, NY	1.7%	759	13
30	Switzerland	New York, NY	1.7%	3,426	59
31	Poland	New York, NY	1.7%	522	9
32	Germany	New York, NY	1.9%	4,968	92
33	Germany	Los Angeles, CA	2.2%	2,620	57
34	Italy	Houston, TX	2.2%	897	20
35	Germany	Chicago, IL	2.2%	2,723	61
36	Austria	New York, NY	2.3%	1,601	37
37	Italy	New York, NY	2.4%	3,484	82
38	Italy	Chicago, IL	2.4%	1,062	25
39	Belgium	Atlanta, GA	2.4%	539	13
40	Norway	New York, NY	3.3%	3,846	125
41	Portugal	Washington, DC	4.2%	931	39
42	France	Washington, DC	4.2%	56,509	2,377
43	Portugal	Newark, NJ	4.4%	868	38
44	Portugal	San Francisco, CA	4.8%	970	47
45	Spain	Boston, MA	4.9%	904	44
46	Germany	Boston, MA	4.9%	2,074	101
47	Finland	New York, NY	5.2%	1,095	57
48	Austria	Los Angeles, CA	5.4%	1,130	61
49	Austria	Washington, DC	5.7%	715	41
50	Germany	Washington, DC	5.8%	1,354	79
51	Portugal	Boston, MA	6.6%	1,093	72
52	Lithuania	Chicago, IL	7.0%	739	52
53	Germany	Houston, TX	8.2%	1,948	160
54	Germany	Atlanta, GA	8.7%	1,518	132
55	Iceland	Washington, DC	9.2%	7,692	705
56	Switzerland	San Francisco, CA	9.7%	3,438	332
57	Belgium	Washington, DC	12.8%	554	71
58	Belgium	New York, NY	13.0%	1,142	149
59	Denmark	New York, NY	14.9%	4,330	644
60	Germany	Miami, FL	15.7%	911	143
61	Spain	New York, NY	19.1%	6,771	1,296
62	Sweden	Washington, DC	20.5%	5,064	1,036

Source: European Commission, Visa statistics for consulates 2025 (XLSX, downloaded on 15 October 2026). Short-stay (Schengen) visas, calendar year. All years on the Commission website.

Questions people ask

Which Schengen country has the lowest rejection rate for applicants from the United States?

In 2025, Greece had the lowest not-issued rate (0.4%) among the 21 Schengen countries that decided at least 500 applications made in the United States. The next lowest were Netherlands (0.5%), Bulgaria (0.8%), Italy (1.5%).

Which Schengen country rejects the most applications from the United States?

Sweden, with 20.5% of 5,064 decisions not issued in 2025, followed by Denmark (14.9%), Finland (10.6%).

Which Schengen visa is easiest to get from the United States?

There is no 'easy' Schengen visa: every country applies the same Visa Code, and you must apply to the country of your main destination. The figures show that in 2025 consulates of Greece in the United States issued visas to a larger share of applicants than consulates of Sweden, but each rate mixes different travellers, purposes and documents. Rates describe past decisions, not your chances.

Can I apply to the country with the lowest refusal rate?

Only if it is your main destination (where you will spend the most time) or, for equal stays, the first Schengen country you enter. Applying to a country you do not plan to visit mainly can itself lead to a refusal.

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What "easiest" means here

Where you apply, not your passport. The Commission counts applications by the country where they were lodged: the figures for the United States include residents of other nationalities, and leave out nationals of the United States who applied elsewhere.
Not issued = refused plus applications whose examination was discontinued, ÷ (uniform visas issued + visas with limited territorial validity + not issued): the formula in the Commission's file.
Minimum 500 decisions. A consulate that decided 40 applications can swing from 5% to 30% in a year without anything changing; we rank only countries and consulates with enough decisions.
If you are refused, the consulate must tell you why and how to appeal (European Commission). Full method: how we calculate the rates.

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