Turkish travellers still need Schengen visas as 2016 EU pledge stays unmet

Turkish passport holders still need a Schengen visa to enter Europe's border-free area, even though European Union leaders pledged in March 2016 to lift the requirement by the end of June that year. The gap between that promise and the current rules is the focus of an analysis of how visa policy shapes relations between countries and the way citizens view them.

Key facts

• The EU and Türkiye opened a visa liberalisation dialogue in December 2013.
• In the March 2016 EU-Türkiye statement, EU leaders pledged to lift visa requirements by the end of June 2016 once all 72 benchmarks of the roadmap were met.
• Ankara says it has met 66 of the 72 benchmarks.
• Turkish citizens still need a Schengen visa; no start date for visa-free travel has been announced.
• Schengen refusal rates for Turkish applicants in 2025 were close to the global average.
• Visa application fees are non-refundable, so a refusal costs the applicant the full fee.

What is the current situation for Turkish travellers?

Turkish nationals must apply for a Schengen visa before travelling to the EU's border-free area. The analysis notes that applicants can face non-refundable fees, financial audits and biometric collection as part of the process.

The refusal rate for Turkish applicants in 2025 was not unusually high and sat close to the global average, the analysis says. The frustration it describes centres on the unfulfilled promise of visa-free travel rather than on rejection numbers.

What was promised, and what happened?

The EU and Türkiye began their visa liberalisation dialogue in December 2013. Under the EU-Türkiye statement of March 2016, EU leaders said visa requirements would be lifted by the end of June 2016 if all 72 benchmarks in the roadmap were fulfilled. Ankara says it has met 66 of them. Turkish citizens still need a Schengen visa, and the source gives no date for when that might change.

How do refusal rates compare elsewhere?

European Commission figures show that in 2024 nearly half of all Schengen applications lodged in Nigeria were refused, against a global average of 14.8 percent. Because the fee is not returned on refusal, the LAGO Collective estimates African countries lost €60 million on refused applications in 2024, an outflow it calls "reverse remittances".

The analysis adds that the passport hierarchy is not only a Western issue: China, often cited as an alternative partner, has not opened visa-free entry to major African countries, although its visa-free entry list covers 74 nationalities.

Why does this matter?

Writing on visa policy and public diplomacy, Ayesha Noor argues that repeated visa refusals affect how citizens judge their country's partnerships. A poll reported by the Center for American Progress found only 20 percent of Turks believed European governments wanted Türkiye in the Union, while a spring 2025 survey for the EU delegation still found 58 percent of Turks ready to vote for membership.

The analysis places the visa question alongside wider shifts, noting that Egypt and Ethiopia joined BRICS in 2024 and Nigeria became a BRICS partner country in 2025. It also points out that the African Union's free-movement protocol has been ratified by only four states, short of the fifteen needed.

What this means for travellers

Turkish citizens planning trips to the Schengen area should continue to budget for a visa application, including the non-refundable fee, and allow for the document and biometric checks the process involves. Nothing in the source indicates that the rules are about to change.

No timeline for visa-free Schengen travel for Turkish citizens has been announced, and the remaining benchmarks have not been detailed. Travellers should check the current Schengen visa requirements for their nationality before booking.