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It is quite easy to find out whether or not a given consulate is likely to issue a multi-entry visa. However a multi-entry visa could in theory be issued for a small duration of time (such as a month), which would make its advantage void for most practical purposes.

Does the EU publish any statistics on which consulate is more likely to issue a long term (6+ months validity) C visa? With that information in hand, one could choose a Schengen country to visit for seasonal vacations.

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  • All my Schengen visas were multiple entry however of short duration, two months at the most. They were from the French, Spanish and German embassies.
    – Augustine of Hippo
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 8:52
  • What do you mean with a 'long term' visa? Do you mean a type C short-term visa with long validity, or do you mean a type D national long-term visa? Type D visas are usually not issued for tourism at all, but for settlement purposes.
    – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 9:50
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    @Tor-EinarJarnbjo Good point. I'm referring to C visas with a duration of more than 6 months. E.g. the US routinely issues 5 or 10 year visas to all applicants.
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 14:42
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    @JonathanReez sure. The Schengen Visa Code specifies (also Article 24) that applicants for multiple-entry visas with a longer period of validity should "prove the need or justify the intention to travel frequently and/or regularly" as well as "prove his integrity and reliability," and the US handles the same issue differently. I agree that it could be helpful to frequent travelers to know whether certain countries are more likely to consider such a request favorably. I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea about how the US system works.
    – phoog
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 16:05
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    Also note that in some cases the application must be submitted to a consulate that isn't the nearest one. For example, much of southwestern Connecticut (except Fairfield county) is in the jurisdiction of Germany's consulate in Boston, even though it is closer to New York City in terms of both physical distance and the rail network.
    – phoog
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 16:15

2 Answers 2

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Russian media publish extensive statistics on this topic, based on polling of people who applied the visa.

However, this will vary per country of issue and even per consulate in a country (such as Finland consulate in St. Petersburg giving long visas much more eagerly than one in Moscow, on account of border proximity).

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Does the EU publish any statistics on which consulate is more likely to issue a long term [multi-entry visa] (6+ months validity) C visa?

You are basicly asking if the given statistics will assist you in finding a consulate that has a more 'generous' interpretation of the conditions set out in the Articles 24(2,2a-2d).

The main critia is a combination of

  • the applicants travel history
    • has obtained and lawfully used three visas within the previous two years;
  • to take account of local circumstances, and of migratory and security risks, in view of the adoption of more favourable or more restrictive rules
    • which can change within a year (for better or worse)

The second point (contained in Article 24(2b)) is of importance and should not be ignored (something that those who claim it is 'supposed to be automatic' do).

The circumstances that may have existed in year X (on which the statistics is based on), may not be true in year X+1.

With that information in hand, one could choose a Schengen country to visit for seasonal vacations.

This could be considered to be 'visa shopping' and should be avoided (i.e. don't tell them that getting a multi-visa is your main reason for applying to that country).

The goal of the statistics has more to do in assisting the consulates in their resource planning.

Sources:

  • 2020-02-02: Visa Code
    • A newer version will come into effect on 2024-06-28 (32023R2667)
    • Article 5 (b) was added in 2019
    • Article 24 (2) was completely rewritten in 2019, where with a long validity after multiple-entry visas was added in the first sentance
    • The newer version will contain a new point '2aa':
      • 2aa. The validity of the multiple-entry visas shall not be restricted by the validity of the travel document.’
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    You are allowed to select a country to visit based on whether you can get a visa and then going to that country is not visa shopping. Selecting a country to apply for a visa and next doing a multiple country travel where you are hardly in the country you have the visa from, or not at all visiting it, is unacceptable visa shopping.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented May 12 at 7:21
  • @Willeke Consulate officials are required to look for tell tale signs of visa shopping. Applying for a visa at a particular consulate, based on the hope of getting a multi-entry visa is visa shopping. That there may be other reasons I will also grant, but for this answer the warning that this may be seen as visa shopping was appropriate. Your comment, however, claims that this is not the case. I consider your opinion to be excitedly naive. Consulate officials base their decisions on the instructions of ther government and not on the wishful thinking of others.
    – Mark Johnson
    Commented May 16 at 16:57

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