Schengen Visa Fees Will Increase From June 2024

Following a review by the European Union (EU), travellers can expect to see a hike in the Schengen Visa fees starting from June

Posted on

24 May 2024

Contributed by

Clarice Awa

Schengen Visa Fees Will Increase From June 2024

Planning on travelling to Europe this year or onwards? Read this first...

Travellers can expect to fork up an extra 12.5% in visa fees to visit European countries, starting June 2024.

It has been announced that the Schengen Visa, a unified travel document that allows the visa-holder to travel to 29 countries in Europe, will see hikes in costs.

If you're one of the many who requires a visa to travel to Europe, here's what you need to know about the increase in Schengen Visa fees.

What are the new costs for a Schengen Visa?

The European Commission will increase the Schengen Visa fee from 80 Euros (AED 319) to 90 Euros (AED 358) for adults, and from 40 Euros (AED 15) to 45 Euros (AED 179) for children, announced the official VFS Global website.

The new visa fee will be implemented on Tuesday June 11, 2024.

"All visa applications lodged worldwide on or after this date will be subject to the new visa fee," read the statement.

Pictured: Berlin, Germany

Why are the Schengen Visas being increased in 2024?

As per officials, the rise in EU visa fees is due to inflation and civil servants' salaries.

"[...] the Commission has analysed developments in the general Union-wide inflation rate and the weighted average of the salaries of Member States’ civil servants between 1 July 2020 and 1 July 2023. It has concluded that there is a need to increase the amount of the visa fees by 12.5 per cent," stated the official gazette of record for the EU.

Europe's visa fees is reviewed once every three years as per the Schengen Visa Code, with the latest update in February 2020 when officials hiked up the fees from 60 Euros (AED 239) to 80 Euros (AED 319).