The Finnish consulate in Beijing processed 81 percent fewer applications for a Schengen visa in 2020, while those submitted at The Finnish consulate in Shanghai declined by 77 during last year compared to figures from 2019, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
In March of last year, as the pandemic enfolded, Finland’s authorities temporarily suspended the reception of regular visa applications and tourist visas. According to Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ data, Russian and Chinese nationalities were the most interested ones in obtaining a visa in Finland in 2020 and the Finnish consulate in Beijing issued 26,019 visas while 2,327 were denied and the Finnish consulate in Shanghai issued 15,797 visas, while 975 of them were denied
Overall Finland saw a decline of 83 percent in visa applications for a Schengen visa and Finish consulates processed in total 152,543 applications in 2020, compared to 895,781 applications in 2019.
According to Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ data, Russian and Chinese nationalities were the most interested ones in obtaining a visa to Finland in 2020.
