South Africans among ‘most interested’ in visiting Croatia
Reports have highighted that South Africans and the Chinese are the ‘most interested’ nations wanting to visit Shengen country Croatia.
The beautiful European country of Croatia has reported over 38 000 Schengen visa requests in their first year as Schengen state, and that South Africans were amongst the most interested.
As reported by SchengenNews, Chinese, South African and Qatari nationals were the top visa applicants for the year.
According to the data, 47 percent of visa requests filed to Croatia in 2023, originated from five countries alone. The top five countries of origin for visa applicants to Croatia were as follows:
- China with 4 447 visa applications
- South Africa with 4 141 visa applications
- Qatar with 3 274 visa applications
- Kosovo with 3 165 visa applications
- Indonesia with 3 099 visa applications
In total, an impressive 88.7 percent of these 4 141 visa applications were approved for South Africa. The data also showed that Algerians were the most rejected nation when it came to Croation visa applications.
Tourism is a significant part of Croatia’s economy, with millions of visitors each year drawn to its historic cities, beautiful coastline, and national parks.
EU set to increase Schengen Visa fees this June
Earlier this year, the Commission of the European Union (EU) had announced that they would in fact be revising the cost of Schengen visa application fees.
According to Schengenvisa.info, the Commission had suggested that the fee for the visa application increase from €80 (R1 629,60) to €90 (R1 833,30) for adults and from €40 (R814,80) to €45 (R916,65) for children.
In latest news, the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs has already announced that third country nationals in need of a Schengen visa be aware that as of 11 June, they would need to fork out more money in order to apply for one.
According to SchengenNews, the Slovenian Ministry stated that visa fees for adults filing a short-term visa application for Slovenia would now be €90, instead of the €80 as it has been so far, and €45, instead of €40, for children between six and 12 years old.
“The European Commission adopted a decision to increase short stay Schengen visa (visa type C) fees worldwide by 12 per cent. The increase will apply worldwide as of June 11, 2024. New Schengen visa fees will be €90 for adults and €45 for children aged 6 to below 12 years of age.” the Slovenian Ministry said in their statement.
Although the European Union’s Commission has not actually made any announcements regarding when the increase would take effect throughout the Schengen region, it is expected to publish the change soon.