Schengen Visa Refusal Reasons (and How to Reapply)

If your Schengen visa was refused, the decision came on a standard form every Schengen consulate uses, with a box ticked next to each reason that applied. This page gives you all 16 reasons on that form, the document behind each one and what to change before you apply again, plus how to choose between an appeal and a new application. Everything is checked against the EU Visa Code and consulate sources as of October 2026.

What a Schengen refusal letter contains

A refusal is a decision on an application the consulate has examined. Article 32 of the Visa Code requires the consulate to notify it on the standard form in Annex VI, in the language of the state that decided and in another official EU language. The form says whether the visa was refused, annulled or revoked, ticks the reasons that apply and leaves space for additional remarks.

The bottom of the form is the part to read twice. It states the national law that governs an appeal, the authority you lodge it with, where to find the procedure and the time limit. Appeal deadlines are short, so note yours on the day the letter arrives.

The decision normally comes within 15 calendar days of lodging an admissible application, and Article 23 lets the consulate extend that to 45 days in individual cases. During the examination it can also interview you or ask for more documents.

Refused or returned as inadmissible

Not every unsuccessful application is a refusal. Under Article 19, a file without the application form, a valid travel document or a photo that meets the required standard, or one where your fingerprints or the fee were not collected, is inadmissible: the consulate returns your documents, reimburses the fee and does not examine the application. A consulate that is not competent for your trip also returns the file and the fee, under Article 18, and tells you which consulate is. Neither case produces a refusal form.

Refusal letters dated before February 2020

The current form has applied since the 2 February 2020 version of the Visa Code. The original 2009 form had 11 reasons, numbered differently: insurance was reason 7 and intention to leave was reason 9. If your refusal letter is older, the last column of the table below translates its numbers.

The 16 Schengen visa refusal reasons on the form

Here is every box on the current form, in order, with what usually leads a consulate to tick it and what to change before you apply again. The wording is shortened from Annex VI.

No.	What the form says	What usually leads to it	What to change before reapplying	Pre-2020 no.
1	A false, counterfeit or forged travel document	A passport found altered or not genuine	No document fix; appeal if the finding is wrong	1
2	Purpose and conditions of the stay not justified	No invitation, bookings or program showing the purpose	Add purpose documents for your type of trip	2
3	No proof of sufficient means for the stay and the return	Funds below the daily reference amount times the days	Show more funds, a sponsor or a host	3
4	No proof you can acquire the means lawfully	Money with no visible source	Show the source: salary, pension or business income	3
5	90 days already used in the current 180-day period	Earlier stays on Schengen visas	Apply for dates when the 90 days are free again	4
6	SIS alert for refusing entry, by a named state	An alert entered by that state	No document fix	5
7	Threat to public policy or internal security	A security assessment	No document fix; appeal	6
8	Threat to public health	A public health assessment	No document fix; appeal	6
9	Threat to international relations	An assessment by one or more states	No document fix; appeal	6
10	Information on the purpose and conditions not reliable	Documents that contradict each other or the form	Make dates, places and names match	8
11	Doubts about your statements on a named point	Answers the file does not support	Prove the named point with documents	None
12	Doubts about the authenticity of documents or their contents	A booking, certificate or letter that does not check out	Submit only documents you can verify	None
13	Doubts about your intention to leave before the visa expires	Few ties shown: job, money, property, family	Add proof of employment, property, family and return travel	9
14	No proof you could not apply in advance (border visa)	Applying at the border without showing why you could not apply earlier	Apply at a consulate before you travel	10
15	Purpose and conditions of the airport transit not justified	A transit itinerary that does not add up	Show the itinerary and the final-destination permit	None
16	No proof of adequate and valid travel medical insurance	No certificate, or cover that fails Article 15	Buy cover that meets Article 15	7
17	Revocation requested by the visa holder	You asked for the revocation	Nothing to fix; no appeal	11

Several boxes can be ticked on one letter. Fix every ticked reason, not only the first: a new file that answers reason 3 but leaves reason 13 open can be refused again on 13.

How to fix each refusal reason before you reapply

Reasons 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 16 come down to documents you can replace or add, so they are the ones a new application can fix. The rest turn on your passport, your travel record, a finding by one or more states, or the type of visa you applied for.

Purpose of the trip: reasons 2 and 10

Reason 2 means the file did not show what the trip is for; reason 10 means it did, but the consulate did not find the information reliable. Annex II of the Visa Code lists the supporting documents a consulate may ask for by purpose: an invitation from a firm for business, an enrollment certificate for a course, and for tourism or a private visit, a host’s invitation or a hotel booking plus a document showing the travel plans.

For reason 10, look for contradictions first. The dates on the form, the hotel bookings, the flight reservation, your employer’s leave letter and the insurance should describe the same trip. Put the plan in a 1-page cover letter: the dates, the cities, where you sleep and who pays. The officer then has one page to check every booking against.

Money: reasons 3 and 4

Under Article 21(5), the consulate assesses your means by the length and purpose of the stay, using a daily reference amount each Schengen state sets for budget board and lodging, multiplied by the days you ask for. Your proof of funds has to cover that total plus the trip home. Sponsorship or private accommodation can count as evidence of means, so that proof can come from you, a sponsor or a host.

Reason 4 points at the source rather than the amount. The fix is evidence of where the money comes from, such as payslips and an employer letter, a pension statement or business accounts, matching the deposits on your bank statement.

Doubtful documents or statements: reasons 11 and 12

Article 21(7) bases the examination on the authenticity and reliability of your documents and on the truth of what you state. Reason 11 asks the consulate to specify the statement it doubts, so read that line closely. It might be your job, your relationship to a host or your travel history, and the new file should prove that point directly. Reason 12 covers documents that do not check out, and consulates do check them.

Intention to leave: reason 13

Article 21 tells consulates to give particular consideration to whether you will leave the Schengen area before the visa expires. Annex II lists the evidence that answers it: a return or round-trip reservation, proof of financial means in your country of residence, proof of employment, proof of property, and family ties and professional status where you live.

No single document settles reason 13, so add the ties you have: an employer letter with your role and approved leave, a property deed or lease, a business registration, an enrollment letter if you study, and earlier visas you used and came back on.

Travel medical insurance: reason 16

Reason 16 is the most mechanical to fix, because Article 15 sets the cover your travel insurance needs: medical repatriation, urgent medical care, emergency hospital treatment and death, at least €30,000, valid in every Schengen state for the full stay. The Commission’s 2020 Visa Code Handbook tells consulates that inadequate insurance should not automatically lead to refusal and that you should be allowed to provide proof first. If 16 is ticked anyway, check that the new certificate shows your name, the territory, the dates and the amount.

Passport, travel record, security and visa type: reasons 1, 5 to 9, 14, 15 and 17

These reasons turn on your passport, your travel record, a finding by one or more states or the type of visa, not on the supporting documents of an ordinary application:

• Reason 1: a finding about your passport. A new application with the same passport meets the same check, so the appeal is the route if the finding is wrong.
• Reason 5: you had already used the 90 days of the current 180-day period, so only later dates work.
• Reason 6: the form names the state that entered the SIS alert, and no booking or bank statement changes an alert.
• Reasons 7 to 9: assessments by one or more states; the appeal is the route.
• Reason 14: apply at a consulate before you travel instead of at the border.
• Reason 15: show the transit itinerary and the visa or permit for your final destination.
• Reason 17: you asked for the revocation, and the form says this reason is not subject to appeal.

Appeal or reapply after a Schengen refusal

Article 32(3) gives every refused applicant the right to appeal against the state that took the final decision, under that state’s law, so the route, deadline and cost change by country. The Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) says you can only object to it if the Netherlands decided your application.

Germany changed its route in 2025. Since 1 July 2025, German missions no longer process a remonstration, the objection applicants used to file with the embassy or consulate. Germany’s notice on rejected visas lists 2 options instead: a new application at any time, or an action at the Berlin Administrative Court, in German, at your own expense.

The Netherlands keeps an administrative step: a free objection to the IND, in a letter in Dutch, English, German or French, which the IND says can currently take 6 months to decide. For a trip in the near future, the Dutch government’s refusal page calls a new application your best option.

	Germany: court action	Netherlands: objection	New application
Where	Berlin Administrative Court	IND	The competent consulate or its visa center
Deadline	1 month from service of the refusal notice	4 weeks, starting the day after the decision	None
Cost	Court fees of about €480, paid in advance; a lawyer is optional and charges separately	Free	The visa fee again (€90, or €45 for children 6 to 11), plus any service fee
How long	Several months	A 6-week decision period, extendable by 6 weeks; currently it can take 6 months	15 calendar days, up to 45
Who can lodge it	You, with or without a lawyer	You, a legal representative, a lawyer or a person you authorize in writing; for family visits, your sponsor online	You, with a new signed application form

Choose by what the form ticked and by your travel date:

• Reapply when the ticked reasons point at documents you can now add or replace (2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13 or 16), or when the trip is too soon to wait for an appeal.
• Appeal when you believe the consulate got it wrong on the file you submitted, or when the reason is one a document cannot fix (1 or 6 to 9). Count the cost: in Germany, about €480 in court fees against a €90 visa fee.

What to do in the first days after a refusal

1. Read the form for the boxes ticked, the additional remarks and the appeal block at the bottom.
2. Write down the appeal deadline and the authority named on the form before you do anything else.
3. Match each ticked reason to the document behind it, using the table of reasons above.
4. Decide whether a new document fixes every ticked reason, or whether one of them is a finding only an appeal can challenge.
5. Compare your travel date with the timelines: months for an appeal, 15 to 45 days for a new application.
6. Lodge the appeal with the named authority before the deadline, or rebuild the file and apply again.

Reapplying after a Schengen visa refusal

You can apply again whenever you are ready. The Visa Code sets no waiting period, and Article 21(9) says a previous refusal does not lead to an automatic refusal: the new application is assessed on all available information. That includes the refusal itself. Refusals are entered into the VIS, and the consulate consults the VIS on every application, so the new file is read next to the old decision.

Apply to the competent state. Article 5 sets it by the trip, not by your choice: the sole destination, or the main destination by days or purpose, or, if there is no main destination, the state whose external border you cross first. A consulate that is not competent returns the file and the fee, so changing consulates only works if the trip itself changes.

Rebuild the file rather than resending the old one: start from the base documents every Schengen application needs, then add the ones that answer each ticked reason. Germany’s notice says a new application is reviewed neutrally, with all relevant documents presented again and the usual fee. That fee is €90 for applicants aged 12 and over as of October 2026. The Netherlands confirms that neither the visa fee nor VFS Global or TLScontact service charges are refunded after a refusal.

Keep the bookings you get the visa with. The Spanish Consulate in Edinburgh warns on its checklist that modifying or canceling a travel reservation after the visa is granted may lead to refusal in future applications.

This is an invented sample, not a real applicant or decision.

Applicant: Aditi Rao, 29, a software tester in Pune, India. Trip: 6 to 17 May 2027, 8 nights with a university friend in Munich and 3 nights in a Berlin hotel. First decision: Germany refused on 3 March 2027, reasons 3 and 13, with a 1-month court deadline printed on the notice.

Ticked reason	What the first file showed	What the second file added
3, means	3 months of statements, balance INR 48,000 the week of the appointment	6 months of statements with a steady salary credit, her friend’s invitation for the Munich nights, the prepaid Berlin hotel
13, intention to leave	1 payslip, no leave letter	An employer letter with her role, salary and approved leave for 6 to 17 May, 3 months of payslips, the return flight reservation
Both	No cover letter	A 1-page cover letter with the dates, cities, where she sleeps each night and who pays

Her choice: the trip was 9 weeks away and both reasons pointed at documents, so she skipped the court action and reapplied on 24 March 2027, paying the €90 fee again. The second file answers each ticked reason on paper; the decision is still the consulate’s.

UK visitor visa refusals

The UK is outside the Schengen area and decides visitor visas under its own Immigration Rules. The core test is the genuine visitor requirement in rule V 4.2 of Appendix V: you must satisfy the decision maker that you will leave at the end of the visit, will not live in the UK through frequent or successive visits, are coming for a permitted purpose, will not work or do other prohibited activities, and have enough money for the visit and the journey home.

A refused visitor cannot ask for an administrative review: Appendix AR of the Immigration Rules lists the routes eligible for one, and the Visitor route is not among them. On the routes it covers, GOV.UK’s administrative review page says the decision letter tells you whether you can ask for a review, which costs £80, must be requested within 28 days and can currently take 12 months or more. The £135 Standard Visitor fee is not refunded after a refusal.

A visitor refusal also carries no right of appeal unless your application made a human rights claim: without one, the Home Office’s rights of appeal guidance says the refusal does not attract an appeal. You can apply again with evidence that answers the reasons in the refusal letter; in 2013, the Home Office said anyone refused a visit visa may reapply as many times as they like. If you believe the decision was unlawful rather than wrong, you can ask the Upper Tribunal for a judicial review within 3 months of the decision, for an initial fee of £179 as of October 2026.