Schengen visas in China: refusals consulate by consulate
4.0% of applications refused in 2025 — 76,655 of 1,915,149.
2024: 4.6% of 1,779,255 applications (−0.5 pts). 68 Schengen consulates active in 2025.
What the national rate hides
- Fewest refusals
- 0.6%
- Denmark — Pékin · 1,275 applications
- Most refusals
- 25.9%
- Malta — Pékin · 1,723 applications
- Biggest drop since 2024
- −11.2 pts
- Slovakia — Shanghai · 1,472 applications
- Highest share of multiple-entry visas
- 99.9%
- Germany — Shenyang · 12,516 applications
Ranking based on consulates with at least 1,000 applications: below that, a handful of files moves the rate. The largest consulate by volume is France — Shanghai, with 166,788 applications.
Every consulate, fewest to most refusals
| Consulate | Applications 2025 | Refused 2025 | 2024 | Change | Multiple entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark — Pékin | 1,275 | 0.6% | 2.3% | −1.8 pts | 1.1% |
| Luxembourg — Pékin | 1,241 | 0.7% | 1.9% | −1.3 pts | 51.3% |
| Norway — Shanghai | 20,781 | 1.3% | 4.3% | −3.0 pts | 27.2% |
| Greece — Guangzhou (Canton) | 7,057 | 1.4% | 3.3% | −1.9 pts | 31.4% |
| Spain — Chengdu | 21,301 | 1.4% | — | — | 0.9% |
| Slovakia — Shanghai | 1,472 | 1.5% | 12.7% | −11.2 pts | 10.8% |
| Croatia — Pékin | 10,030 | 1.9% | 2.9% | −1.0 pts | 84.3% |
| Austria — Shanghai | 18,426 | 2.0% | 3.5% | −1.5 pts | 7.8% |
| Czech Republic — Shanghai | 6,686 | 2.0% | 6.8% | −4.8 pts | 5.5% |
| Hungary — Pékin | 30,195 | 2.0% | 3.2% | −1.2 pts | 24.2% |
| Finland — Shanghai | 8,871 | 2.1% | 5.3% | −3.2 pts | 14.3% |
| Belgium — Pékin | 10,508 | 2.1% | 2.4% | −0.3 pts | 97.2% |
| Greece — Pékin | 13,453 | 2.1% | 3.0% | −0.9 pts | 19.8% |
| Germany — Chengdu | 14,603 | 2.1% | 0.8% | +1.3 pts | 98.0% |
| Belgium — Shanghai | 8,279 | 2.2% | 1.1% | +1.1 pts | 98.4% |
| Germany — Shanghai | 94,380 | 2.2% | 1.2% | +1.0 pts | 98.7% |
| Iceland — Pékin | 32,982 | 2.3% | 1.8% | +0.5 pts | 10.7% |
| Italy — Shanghai | 85,977 | 2.4% | 4.5% | −2.2 pts | 6.1% |
| Italy — Pékin | 103,371 | 2.4% | 2.8% | −0.4 pts | 52.9% |
| Austria — Pékin | 29,919 | 2.8% | 4.4% | −1.7 pts | 15.1% |
| Norway — Pékin | 32,038 | 3.0% | 4.1% | −1.2 pts | 17.7% |
| Spain — Pékin | 127,198 | 3.0% | 3.3% | −0.3 pts | 1.8% |
| Spain — Guangzhou (Canton) | 61,979 | 3.0% | 5.4% | −2.3 pts | 3.8% |
| Sweden — Shanghai | 17,538 | 3.2% | 4.9% | −1.7 pts | 18.8% |
| Czech Republic — Pékin | 11,186 | 3.3% | 3.9% | −0.6 pts | 22.6% |
| Switzerland — Shanghai | 41,442 | 3.5% | 4.3% | −0.8 pts | 77.7% |
| Italy — Chongqing | 31,485 | 3.5% | 1.9% | +1.6 pts | 58.0% |
| Switzerland — Pékin | 28,790 | 3.7% | 4.5% | −0.7 pts | 37.1% |
| Netherlands — Guangzhou (Canton) | 18,324 | 3.8% | 2.8% | +0.9 pts | 66.9% |
| Netherlands — Pékin | 22,247 | 3.8% | 2.7% | +1.1 pts | 54.2% |
| Netherlands — Shanghai | 29,790 | 3.9% | 2.0% | +1.9 pts | 59.9% |
| Belgium — Guangzhou (Canton) | 3,442 | 3.9% | 1.6% | +2.3 pts | 94.9% |
| France — Shanghai | 166,788 | 3.9% | 3.7% | +0.2 pts | 14.4% |
| Germany — Shenyang | 12,516 | 3.9% | 1.6% | +2.3 pts | 99.9% |
| Finland — Pékin | 11,441 | 4.0% | 7.5% | −3.5 pts | 5.2% |
| Spain — Shanghai | 99,958 | 4.1% | 3.6% | +0.4 pts | 1.3% |
| France — Chengdu | 48,388 | 4.2% | 4.4% | −0.2 pts | 10.3% |
| France — Pékin | 102,419 | 4.5% | 5.3% | −0.8 pts | 35.2% |
| Germany — Pékin | 98,213 | 4.6% | 4.5% | +0.1 pts | 98.3% |
| Hungary — Shanghai | 27,590 | 4.6% | 4.7% | 0.0 pts | 28.5% |
| Germany — Guangzhou (Canton) | 61,858 | 4.8% | 4.1% | +0.7 pts | 93.1% |
| Italy — Guangzhou (Canton) | 57,160 | 5.2% | 5.5% | −0.3 pts | 7.1% |
| Hungary — Chongqing | 4,794 | 5.5% | 5.7% | −0.2 pts | 28.7% |
| Sweden — Pékin | 33,052 | 5.6% | 7.5% | −2.0 pts | 3.9% |
| Poland — Shanghai | 7,628 | 6.0% | 8.4% | −2.4 pts | 16.3% |
| Portugal — Guangzhou (Canton) | 6,571 | 6.7% | 5.3% | +1.4 pts | 37.8% |
| Portugal — Shanghai | 10,655 | 7.1% | 7.0% | +0.1 pts | 23.6% |
| France — Guangzhou (Canton) | 85,344 | 7.2% | 8.5% | −1.3 pts | 10.1% |
| France — Wuhan | 38,533 | 7.4% | 6.2% | +1.2 pts | 22.4% |
| Bulgaria — Shanghai | 1,975 | 8.1% | 8.8% | −0.7 pts | 37.4% |
| Greece — Shanghai | 17,284 | 8.1% | 11.6% | −3.5 pts | 23.7% |
| Portugal — Pékin | 4,954 | 8.2% | 4.4% | +3.8 pts | 27.6% |
| Switzerland — Guangzhou (Canton) | 14,597 | 8.2% | 7.8% | +0.5 pts | 27.6% |
| Denmark — Guangzhou (Canton) | 23,601 | 8.3% | 13.5% | −5.2 pts | 66.5% |
| Poland — Pékin | 4,583 | 9.3% | 7.6% | +1.7 pts | 9.5% |
| France — Shenyang | 11,876 | 10.0% | 10.7% | −0.7 pts | 8.4% |
| Malta — Shanghai | 1,337 | 10.8% | 7.7% | +3.1 pts | 8.3% |
| Bulgaria — Pékin | 1,712 | 11.5% | 6.5% | +5.0 pts | 13.1% |
| Romania — Pékin | 1,719 | 13.0% | 22.0% | −9.0 pts | 10.1% |
| Poland — Guangzhou (Canton) | 3,727 | 15.5% | 18.6% | −3.2 pts | 16.2% |
| Slovenia — Pékin | 2,547 | 15.5% | 19.5% | −4.0 pts | 73.1% |
| Malta — Pékin | 1,723 | 25.9% | 35.9% | −10.0 pts | 12.2% |
Under 1,000 applications — rates not significant
| Consulate | Applications 2025 | Refused 2025 | 2024 | Change | Multiple entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slovakia — Pékin | 854 | 7.1% | 11.8% | −4.7 pts | 26.3% |
| Denmark — Shanghai | 765 | 0.4% | 0.2% | +0.2 pts | 0.7% |
| Luxembourg — Shanghai | 756 | 2.4% | 5.0% | −2.7 pts | 46.4% |
| Estonia — Pékin | 716 | 13.8% | 5.9% | +8.0 pts | 22.9% |
| Romania — Shanghai | 626 | 4.3% | 1.4% | +2.9 pts | 10.4% |
| Latvia — Pékin | 623 | 4.1% | 3.1% | +1.0 pts | 23.5% |
Before choosing a consulate
You do not pick your consulate. The Visa Code (Article 5) designates the one of your main destination — or of the first country of entry if no destination dominates. Applying "where refusals are lower" for a trip elsewhere is itself a ground for refusal.
A low rate is not leniency: it also reflects who applies. A consulate that mostly receives seasoned business travellers refuses less than one receiving first-time applicants. The rate shows where files fail most often — a reason to prepare yours carefully, not to change address.
Where to go visa-free with a Chinese passport
Source: Commission européenne — Visa statistics for consulates, 2025 and 2024 editions, published 2026-05-28. Uniform short-stay visas; the rate is the Commission's: refusals / (issued + limited territorial validity visas + refusals).