Background:

According to the Schengen barometer presented during the last Schengen Council on 4 March 2024, approximately a third of asylum applications in 2023 were lodged by third-country nationals whose entry into the Schengen area is unknown. Many of the applicants concerned are believed to hold or have held a visa, but their number remains unknown. This absence of statistics has repeatedly been pointed out as problematic.

Swedish authorities argue it is important to have a better picture of those migrants who use the legal channels to enter the Schengen area but who subsequently lodge an asylum application in an EU Member State, as these applications often prove to be unfounded and therefore constitute an unnecessary burden on the national asylum systems. This query maps the collection of statistics on these individuals, and the objectives for collecting them.

Respondents:

20 EMN Member Countries (including BE) provided a public answer to this ad hoc query.

Findings:

A preliminary analysis of the responses reveals the following key points:

• Only 6 of the 20 responding Member Countries (including BE) report that they collect statistics on the number of asylum-seekers who enter the EU or Schengen area using a Schengen visa.

• The objectives behind the collection of statistics on these individuals vary between countries. In BE, this exercise is done in order to determine the Member State responsible for the processing of the application for international protection (Dublin III) as well as to support operational efforts in identifying migration patterns, monitoring practices and preventing irregular activities.

Please consult the compilation of answers to the ad hoc query for more details.