Easiest Schengen Visa for Pakistani Applicants? How to Choose the Right Country (2026)

Is there an easiest Schengen visa for Pakistani applicants?

"Which is the easiest Schengen visa for Pakistani passport holders?" is one of the most common questions we hear in Lahore. The honest answer is that no Schengen country has an easy or relaxed visa for Pakistanis. All 29 Schengen countries follow the same EU law, the Visa Code (Regulation 810/2009), with the same fee, the same core documents and the same refusal grounds.

What does differ is which embassy you are allowed to apply to, how the embassies in Pakistan organise appointments, and how many applicants each one refuses. This guide explains the main-destination rule, what the European Commission's official statistics for Pakistan really show, which embassies and visa centres serve Lahore, and how to choose your country honestly.

For documents and the full process, start with our Schengen visa from Pakistan guide. This post is only about choosing the country.

What does the main-destination rule say?

You cannot simply pick the Schengen country you like best. Article 5 of the Visa Code decides which country is "competent" to examine your application:

1. One destination: if you are visiting only one Schengen country, you apply to that country.
2. Several destinations: you apply to the country that is your main destination, judged "in terms of the length of stay, counted in days, or the purpose of stay". The same applies if you plan several separate visits within two months.
3. No clear main destination: if neither length of stay nor purpose gives an answer, you apply to the country whose external border you will cross first to enter the Schengen area.

The European Commission's guide to applying for a Schengen visa puts it simply: apply to the country where you will spend the longest time, and if the stays are equal, to the first country you will visit.

How it works in practice

Your itinerary	Where you apply	Why
8 days in Italy only	Italy	Sole destination
6 days Italy, 3 days France	Italy	Most days
4 days Spain, 4 days Portugal, flying into Madrid	Spain	Equal days, first entry
2-day trade fair in Germany, then 4 days of sightseeing in Austria	Usually Germany, if the fair is the reason for the trip	Main purpose can outweigh days

The last row is where many applicants get confused. The rule allows purpose to decide, so a business event or a family wedding can make a country your main destination even if you spend a few more days elsewhere. Explain this clearly in your cover letter and itinerary, with the invitation as evidence.

Can you apply to whichever country has easier appointments?

Not legally, unless that country really is your main destination. This practice is often called "visa shopping", and it is risky for three reasons:

• Refusal at the embassy. If your itinerary, hotel bookings and flights don't match the country you applied to, the embassy can refuse because "justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay was not provided". That is ground 2 on the EU's standard refusal form (Annex VI of the Visa Code).
• Annulment later. Article 34 says a visa shall be annulled where it becomes evident that the conditions for issuing it were not met. Any Schengen country can annul it, including at the border.
• A permanent record. Refusals and annulments are entered into the Visa Information System (VIS), which every Schengen embassy checks on your next application.

Changing your plans after a genuine visa is issued is a different matter. Plans do change. But if you apply to one country and then spend your whole trip in another, expect questions on your next application.

What do the EU's refusal statistics show for Pakistan?

The European Commission publishes official Schengen visa statistics by consulate every year. The latest file covers 2025 and was published on 28 May 2026. For consulates located in Pakistan, it shows:

• 89,270 applications for uniform (Schengen) visas
• 45,970 uniform visas issued
• 40,026 applications not issued, a not-issued rate of about 45.9%

For comparison, the Commission reports a worldwide refusal rate of 14.6% for 2025. Here are the countries with the most applications in Pakistan in 2025 (rates rounded, our calculation from the Commission's file):

Schengen country (consulates in Pakistan)	Applications in 2025	Not-issued rate 2025
Germany (Islamabad and Karachi)	18,792	about 24%
Netherlands	13,108	about 53%
Spain	12,296	about 56%
Italy (Islamabad and Karachi)	10,809	about 39%
France	9,503	about 37%
Denmark	5,539	about 79%
Belgium	4,987	about 57%
Switzerland	4,682	about 50%
Austria	2,543	about 73%
Portugal	2,300	about 48%

Why these numbers don't mean "easy"

Read this table with care:

• It counts everyone who applied in Pakistan, including residents of other nationalities. It is not a figure for Pakistani citizens alone.
• It reflects who applies where. An embassy that mostly receives business travellers and families visiting relatives will show a lower rate than one that receives many first-time tourist applications.
• Small numbers swing. Czechia (398 applications) and Sweden (97) show low rates, but on so few files that one year tells you very little.
• It changes year to year. Germany's rate for consulates in Pakistan was about 32% in 2024 and about 24% in 2025.

A lower average is not a lower bar. Every embassy applies the same Article 32 refusal grounds, and your own file is judged on its own facts.

Which embassies and visa centres serve Pakistan?

Each country runs its own appointment system in Pakistan. Some use an outside company to collect applications, and some take them directly. As of October 2026, the official pages show:

Country	How you apply	Lahore centre?	Official source
Germany	Directly at the Embassy in Islamabad (covers Punjab, ICT, KP and AJK) or the Consulate General in Karachi (Sindh and Balochistan), via a free online waiting list	No. Punjab residents apply in Islamabad	German Missions in Pakistan
Italy	BLS-Intiana, under the Embassy in Islamabad and the Consulate General in Karachi	Yes (also Islamabad, Multan, Faisalabad, Karachi, Quetta)	Embassy of Italy, Islamabad
Spain	Spain visa application centre run by BLS International's partner Intiana	Yes (also Islamabad and Karachi)	Spain Visa Application Centre, Pakistan
Netherlands	VFS Global (Finland's Schengen visas can also be lodged there)	Yes (also Islamabad and Karachi)	NetherlandsWorldwide
Belgium and Luxembourg	VFS/Gerry's International	Yes, at MCT Madina Corporate Tower, 8 Queens Road, since 29 June 2026	Embassy of Belgium in Pakistan
France	Appointments through AEG's offices in Pakistan; the Embassy in Islamabad decides	Check the AEG office list linked from France-Visas	France-Visas: Pakistan

None of these embassies lists TLScontact as its provider in Pakistan. For any country not in the table, go to that embassy's own website. Several smaller Schengen countries have no visa section in Pakistan and are represented by another country, so the embassy's site will tell you where to lodge.

One warning applies everywhere. Germany's missions say registration on their waiting lists is free and that anyone asking for money for it is a fraudster, and Italy's embassy says applications may only be lodged at the BLS centre for your area of residence. Don't pay anyone for a "guaranteed slot". Our Schengen appointment booking guide explains how to book safely.

How to choose your Schengen country honestly

1. Plan the trip you actually want. Decide the cities, the number of nights in each and the reason for travelling before you think about embassies.
2. Apply the Article 5 test. Count nights per country. If there is a clear winner, that is your embassy. If the purpose (a conference, a wedding, a family visit) clearly centres on one country, that can decide it.
3. Make every document match. Flights, hotel or host address, the day-by-day itinerary, the cover letter and the insurance dates should all tell the same story.
4. Then plan the appointment. Check that embassy's booking route and waiting time, and apply between six months and 15 days before travel (Visa Code Article 9).
5. If the timing doesn't work, change the trip, not the paperwork. If your first choice has no appointments in time, the honest options are to move your dates or genuinely restructure the trip so another country becomes the main destination.

If Italy is your main destination, our new Italy visit visa page covers the BLS-Intiana process in more detail.

What costs and timelines are the same everywhere?

These rules come from the Visa Code and apply at every Schengen embassy in Pakistan, as of October 2026:

Item	Rule
Visa fee	€90 for adults, €45 for children aged 6 to 11, free under 6 (Delegated Regulation 2024/1415, in force since 11 June 2024)
Fee discounts for Pakistanis	None. Pakistan is not among the countries with an EU visa facilitation agreement
When to apply	No more than 6 months and, as a rule, no later than 15 calendar days before travel
Decision time	15 calendar days, extendable to 45 in individual cases
Travel insurance	At least €30,000, valid in all Schengen states for the whole stay
Passport	Valid 3 months beyond departure, issued within the last 10 years, with 2 blank pages

German missions in Pakistan say the fee is paid in PKR at the current exchange rate, in cash at the counter, and visa centres charge their own service fee on top.

EES and ETIAS

The EU's Entry/Exit System started on 12 October 2025 and has been fully operational across all Schengen countries since 10 April 2026. Your fingerprints and facial image are recorded at the external border, and the system replaces passport stamps. ETIAS is a separate travel authorisation only for visa-free travellers, so Pakistani visa holders don't need it.

Common mistakes when choosing a Schengen country

• Choosing by rumour. "Country X approves everyone" posts on social media are not evidence. The official figures above show no country with large volumes is a soft option.
• A one-night "main destination". Applying to a country where you plan one night while spending a week elsewhere is a classic refusal trigger.
• Mismatched hotel bookings. Bookings for the main country that are cancelled straight after the visa is issued leave a trail.
• Ignoring an earlier refusal. Your previous refusals are visible in the VIS. Declare them and fix the reason instead of trying a "different" country.
• Buying appointments from agents. Official appointment and waiting-list systems are free or charge only published fees.

How Sky Raah can help

Sky Raah Travels in Lahore helps applicants plan an itinerary that fits the main-destination rule, checks that every document matches it, and prepares the file for the right embassy or visa centre. We cannot influence any embassy's decision, but we can help you submit a consistent, well-evidenced application. See our Schengen visa service for details.

Official sources

• EUR-Lex: Visa Code, Regulation (EC) No 810/2009, consolidated text
• EUR-Lex: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1415 (visa fee)
• European Commission: Applying for a Schengen visa
• European Commission: Short-stay visas issued by Schengen countries (statistics)
• European Commission: Visa policy and visa facilitation agreements
• European Commission: Main differences between EES and ETIAS
• German Missions in Pakistan: Schengen visa
• Embassy of Italy in Islamabad: visa appointments
• NetherlandsWorldwide: Schengen visa from Pakistan
• Embassy of Belgium in Pakistan: VFS/Gerry's centres
• France-Visas: applying in Pakistan
• Spain Visa Application Centre in Pakistan

Rules, fees and centre details are correct as of October 2026. Always confirm the latest requirements on the embassy's official website before applying.