On weekdays in Kampala, people line up early outside the embassies of European countries. Last year, almost 18,000 Ugandans joined these queues, According to Lago Collective's analysis. This year, I was one of them, a folder in my hands, and I was hopeful.
These folders typically include bank statements, proof of visa payments, employment contracts, medical records, family photos, land titles, academic transcripts, flight bookings, and detailed itinerary.
After paying to apply for a Schengen visa – for a limited period, we will allow free travel between around 29 European countries, but 36% of these Ugandans have been denied. why? Mainly because embassy officials suspected that the applicant would return home.
Each applicant must pay 90 euros. It came from applicants who were denied by Ugandans to Schengen last year, with over 1.6 million euros paying to Schengen countries, of which over half a million of them.
The collective bets lost by Ugandan applicants were part of the estimated 60 million euros spent in Africa last year, and were spent on Schengen visa applications that were not led anywhere. In fact, Africa alone accounted for almost half of the 130 million euros paid by the world in failed bids to enter the Schengen zone.
Schengengate
Hiding behind these numbers is the quieter cost. Missing work and travel opportunities, often overlooked legal consultations and spending on third-party agencies hired to improve opportunities are overlooked. But to speak more, there is the problem of perception – wrapped in geopolitics, sealed with a sign of negation.
“It's like a bet,” says Dr. Samuel Kajibwe, academic and policy analyst in Uganda. “No one will force you to pay those fees, but I know there's a possibility of rejection.”
One such story belongs to Fred Mwita Machesi, a Tanzanian executive based in Uganda. Transition of electricity distribution companies. Machesi saw it as a chance to not only book a summer vacation, but also relax, if someone like him, who worked in Canada, traveled to the US and the UK and checked his profile, and declared “not a hopeless traveler.” That belief, like the visa itself, did not survive the process.
He had planned a trip to France in the past April. A round-trip ticket? reservation. A 5-star hotel? Paid. Travel insurance? It is secured. The $70,000 bank statement and letter from his employer came with other documents from the application.
“They said I hadn't demonstrated financial capabilities,” Mahage couldn't believe it. “In my profile? That bank's balance? It felt like an attack on my integrity.”
What's worse, refusal was not conveyed through politeness. “The embassy staff was rude,” he said. “And they weren't even Europeans – they were Africans. One of the women looked like Rwandans. It felt like you were being slapped by yourself.”
It is prohibited from travel
In the case of Mahage,His betrayal was not merely bureaucratic – it seemed personal. He estimates the total loss is around $12,000, including tickets, hotel deposits, agent fees and visa fees. He wants a refund, but it is understood that most travel agents will not return the payment. Instead, they often suggest you travel to a visa-free country.
That will probably be even more difficult. This month, US President Donald Trump issued a drastic travel ban targeting 12 countries. Somalia, Sudan, Chad and Eritrea faced a complete ban. Burundi, Sierra Leone, Togo, partial limitations. Official reasons included high visa extensions, deportation cooperation from home countries, and weak systems for internal screening. And although US courts are considering the legality of the order, they have ordered all US embassies to suspend visas to allow students to come to the US for education.
In Mahage's case, rejection left him with a prolonged humiliation, but he found a small relief in a LinkedIn post in which hundreds share similar stories of visa rejection.
“I realized I wasn't alone,” he said.
I know exactly how Mahage feels.
How to prove you're going home?
When I applied for a visa to the UK, I was denied too. Rejection reads:
“In light of all the above, I am not satisfied with your intention to want to travel to the UK now. I am not satisfied that you are truly seeking entry for the purposes permitted by the visitor's route.
“I” Those who issued the rejection did not sign their names. Perhaps they knew I would write this article and mention them. How easily “I Am” dismissed my bond, my plans, my stories. Meanwhile, my British friend who invited me was alive and alive.
“It felt like they were questioning my judgment, about who I could or could not be welcomed in my home,” she said. Not only because she felt ignored by her government, but also because she felt that she was ignored.
Captain Francis Babu, a former Ugandan pastor and veteran political commentator, personally does not reject a visa. He said the situation is shaped by global unrest over the scale of Africa-to-Europe immigration over the past decade.
“Because of the boaters entering Europe from Africa and many other countries and the war in the Middle East, it caused a bit of a problem for immigrants in most countries,” he said.
Refusing immigration, but
The problem is complicated. Bab said these countries depend on the migrants they are trying to keep out. In the United States, for example, farms rely on low-cost South American workers.
“Most of these developed countries want people to hire them because they make money in the services industry for their industry.
For Bab, even the application process feels unfair. “Even applying for a visa alone is a tall order,” he said. “There are people here who make money just to fill in their forms.”
Babu highlights systemic hypocrisy and challenges, but others like Kazibwe look at hope with a different approach rooted in political and economic organizations. If people enjoy strong public services and can rely on social safety nets, the country will not hesitate to acknowledge them as immigration tends to be low.
“That's why countries like the Seychelles are not treated the same way,” he explains. “It's rare to see someone in the Seychelles doing a strange job in Europe, but when they get home they enjoy free social services.”
For Kazibwe, the long-term fix is clear. “The solution is to organize our country politically and economically.
Perhaps that's the most difficult truth. Refusal of a visa is not just a result of the administration, but also a mirror. This is a verdict on not only individuals but also countries that issued their passports.
Returning to the embassy, the queue remains. Young Ugandans, Ghanaians, Nigerians – some are of a degree, others are hopeless, but they line up and check out their wishes in the folders they have at hand. And every rejection has deeper questions as well as a denied trip.
What does that mean when the world sees your passport and keeps you apart?
Questions to consider:
1. Why are so many Ugandans denied travel visas to Europe?
2. Why do some people think visas and immigration policies in many Western countries are hypocritical?
3. If you are traveling abroad, how do you prove that you are not planning to stay in that country forever?
