Schengen Visa From Nigeria: Price, Steps and Rules (2026)

A Schengen visa is one short-stay visa, type C, that covers 29 European countries. It allows up to 90 days in any 180-day period. The European Commission sets the same fee, documents and deadlines for every country that issues it. What differs in Nigeria is who takes your application: a visa centre run by TLScontact, BLS International or VFS Global, or the consulate itself.

The rules below are from the Commission’s visa pages and the EU Visa Code. The Nigerian details are from each embassy’s own pages or the visa centre it names, and each figure says which.

Which countries it covers

The Commission lists the 29: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Ireland keeps its own visa policy. Cyprus is in the EU but, the Commission says, has not yet had its internal border controls lifted, and it issues its own national visas. The UK is outside all of this, and we cover the UK visitor visa separately.

Schengen visa fees from Nigeria

These are the Commission’s figures, and the Visa Code sets them in law. The Commission’s FAQ says the fee is not refunded if the visa is refused. A visa centre adds its own service fee, which the Visa Code caps at half the visa fee, so €45, for a country that has a consulate here.

Nobody publishes one naira price. Each consulate converts the €90 at its own rate and changes it from time to time. These are the pages that state a figure:

For one adult that makes ₦149,850 + ₦60,440 = ₦210,290 for Belgium, and ₦157,100 + ₦25,900 = ₦183,000 for Spain. Two cautions on Spain: BLS’s own page still shows a lower visa fee than the consulate’s, so its service charge may be out of date too, and the Spanish Embassy’s page in Abuja quotes ₦153,400. Go by the amount you are shown when you book.

Which country to apply to

You do not get to pick. The Commission’s rule is:

• visiting one Schengen country: apply to that country;
• visiting several: apply to the one where you will spend the longest time;
• stays of equal length: apply to the first one you will enter.

The Visa Code adds that the main destination can also be decided by the purpose of the trip, and that a consulate must check it is the right one before it examines an application. If it is not, it returns the file and the fee. As a general rule you apply from the country where you legally live.

Where to apply in Nigeria

Some notes on that table. France-Visas, the French government’s visa site, blocks automated reading. Its Nigeria page, as a search engine now has it, says that since 17 November 2025 the Abuja centre receives only family of French nationals, family reunification and diplomatic travel, which leaves Lagos for everyone else. Confirm that on France-Visas’ page for Nigeria before you book.

Spain’s consular pages say applications go to the consulate “or, when available, at the Visa Application Centre” and do not name it. BLS International’s Nigerian site describes itself as the official partner of the Embassy of Spain and lists the one centre. Germany uses no visa centre for Schengen visas in Nigeria: you join a waiting list on the Consulate General’s booking system and are emailed a date. The Dutch government’s own site, Netherlands Worldwide, lists the states for each centre.

Documents the Visa Code requires

• A passport valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave the Schengen area, issued within the last ten years, with at least two blank pages.
• The application form and a photograph that meets the ICAO standard.
• Travel medical insurance valid in every Schengen country for the whole stay, with cover of at least €30,000 for emergency medical care, hospital treatment and repatriation, including in the event of death.
• Documents showing the purpose of the trip, where you will stay, and that you have enough money for the stay and the journey home.
• Evidence that you intend to return to your home country.
• Your fingerprints, taken when you hand in the application. The Visa Code lets a consulate reuse prints taken less than 59 months earlier, and Spain’s consulate says children under 12 are exempt.

The Commission adds that consulates may ask for more. Its page names no minimum bank balance. Italy’s consulate links to its own table of required means, so read the page of the country you are applying to. The German missions ask for every document in original with one set of photocopies, and say an incomplete application cannot get a positive decision.

When to apply and how long it takes

The Commission’s limits are no earlier than six months before the trip and no later than 15 days before it. The normal time for a decision is 15 days, which can be extended to 45 if the consulate wants a closer look or more documents.

Count the wait for an appointment separately, because the 15 days start only when the application is lodged. Germany runs a waiting list. Portugal’s embassy says VFS releases slots monthly. France-Visas advises applying at least a month before a short stay, and BLS says the Spanish embassy’s minimum processing time is 20 calendar days.

A visa is issued for one entry or several. Under the Visa Code, an applicant who has obtained and lawfully used three visas in the previous two years qualifies for a multiple-entry visa valid for a year, and longer ones follow from that. If you are refused, the Commission says you must be told why and how to appeal. For Germany an appeal now means the administrative court in Berlin, within a month. Spain’s consulate accepts a request for reconsideration within a month.

The easiest Schengen visa from Nigeria

No official source ranks countries by ease, and the rule above decides where you apply anyway. What the Commission does publish is its yearly dataset, “Visa statistics for consulates”. The 2025 edition shows 113,359 applications at Schengen consulates in Nigeria, 57,061 visas issued and 53,196 not issued: a refusal rate of 47.9%, against 14.6% worldwide.

We added each country’s Lagos and Abuja rows together. The rate is the dataset’s “not issued rate”, worked out from the visas issued and not issued in the year. The Netherlands has no row for Nigeria because Belgium and France take its applications.

Read the table as a record of who applied, not as odds. The figures count everyone who applied at a consulate in Nigeria, whatever their nationality or purpose. Italy shows why that matters: its Abuja row has a 6.0% refusal rate on 865 applications and its Lagos row 44.9% on 12,698. Germany’s embassy in Abuja takes only the categories its page lists, many of them official travel. A country with a lower figure is still the wrong place to apply if it is not where you are going.

At the border: EES and ETIAS

The Commission says the Entry/Exit System (EES) is fully in operation and has replaced the stamping of passports. It registers non-EU visitors each time they cross the external border, and the EU’s site says it applies to travellers who need a short-stay visa as well as those who do not. Border officers record your passport details, a photograph of your face and the date and place of entry and exit. A visa holder’s fingerprints are already in the Visa Information System and are not stored again. There is nothing to do before you travel. The EU’s site says refusing to give biometric data means being refused entry, and that anyone who stays too long is flagged automatically.

ETIAS is a travel authorisation for people who do not need a visa. The EU’s site says it is not yet in operation and that holders of a Schengen visa do not need one. A Nigerian passport holder needs the visa, so ETIAS is not something to apply for.

The Commission’s FAQ also says a visa does not automatically entitle you to enter. It recommends carrying copies of the documents you applied with.

Avoiding fraud

• Booking an appointment is free at the German Consulate General, which says it does not cooperate with agencies or third parties that sell bookings.
• The German missions say an application with forged documents is rejected automatically, the applicant goes into a warning database and a Schengen-wide entry ban follows.
• The Portuguese Embassy tells applicants not to accept help from strangers who claim connections at VFS, says payments go to VFS directly with a receipt, and warns that applications involving agents may be refused.
• TLScontact says its paid extras do not entitle you to a visa, an earlier appointment or faster processing.
• The French Embassy in Nigeria says any website offering ETIAS is fraudulent, because the system is not running.
• Official EU websites end in europa.eu.

If you are comparing destinations, we have set out the US visitor visa, the Canadian visitor visa and the Dubai visa in the same way.

Quick answers

How much is a Schengen visa from Nigeria?

€90 for an adult and €45 for a child aged 6 to 11, plus the visa centre’s service fee where there is one. Children under 6 pay no visa fee.

How much is the Schengen visa fee in naira?

It depends on the consulate’s exchange rate. TLScontact’s page for Belgium shows ₦149,850 and Spain’s consulate in Lagos shows ₦157,100, before service fees.

Which is the easiest Schengen visa to get from Nigeria?

No official source says. You must apply to the country that is your main destination, and the Commission’s 2025 figures show 47.9% of applications decided in Nigeria were refused.

How long does a Schengen visa take in Nigeria?

The Commission’s normal time is 15 days from lodging, extendable to 45. The wait for an appointment comes on top of that.

Where do I apply for a Schengen visa to France from Nigeria?

At TLScontact, after filling in the application on France-Visas. France-Visas lists centres in Lagos and Abuja, with Abuja limited to a few categories.

If something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.