Dutch Ambassador to Ghana, Jeroen Verheul, has revealed that the overwhelming majority of Ghanaians who reach out to him do so to seek assistance with visa applications rather than raise concerns about the visa process itself.
“If I’m approached by a Ghanaian, it’s mostly about visa issues, and it’s mostly because they want to have my support for a visa application. That is mostly what is happening,” he said on Joy News’ PM Express on Wednesday, February 26.
His comments come amid growing concerns over high visa rejection rates and alleged mistreatment of Ghanaian applicants by embassies and third-party service providers such as VFS Global.
Ghana has been ranked among the top 10 African countries with the highest Schengen visa rejections, with a reported rejection rate of 42%.
However, Ambassador Verheul dismissed claims that the Netherlands or other European countries are shutting their doors to Ghanaian travellers.
[embedded content]Instead, he attributed the high rejection rate to incomplete applications and fraudulent documents.
“I see that a lot of those visa requests are rejected because the applications are not complete. The documents that they have to submit as applicants to support their visa application are not in the right order. If you don’t fill out your visa application correctly, then it is denied. That is the logical process,” he explained.
Beyond incomplete paperwork, the ambassador pointed to fraudulent documents as a significant issue that complicates the visa process.
He stated that embassies regularly encounter fake bank statements and birth certificates, which not only lead to denials but also slow down the processing of genuine applications.
“What we often encounter is a lot of fraud—fraudulent documents, either defrauded bank statements or defrauded birth certificates.
“That is an area where we can improve collaboration between the Ghanaian authorities and the embassies because it is often very time-consuming to check those documents and detect fraud,” he noted.
The ambassador suggested that a stronger partnership between Ghanaian authorities and embassies could reduce the rejection rate by ensuring better verification processes.
“If we can improve that process, that would mean fewer rejections, and that would also mean that we can speed up the processing of other applications. So, I would say that there is a benefit in improving the collaboration,” he emphasised.
His remarks, however, may do little to ease frustrations among Ghanaians who feel the visa process remains restrictive despite legitimate applications.
[embedded content]Many applicants have long complained about a lack of transparency, poor communication, and unfair treatment at visa centres.
The Dutch Embassy in Ghana handles over 15,000 Schengen visa applications annually, making it the largest processing centre among Schengen partners in the country.
Other embassies process between 5,000 and 10,000 applications.
While acknowledging that visa rejections are frustrating, Ambassador Verheul maintained that the key to securing approval is following the right process and ensuring all required documents are in order.
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