When Joel Anyaegbu's application for a Schengen visa to travel to Barcelona was denied late last year, he was surprised but immediately reapplied.
He sent in more documents than were required, including bank statements and proof of property ownership in Nigeria.
He was rejected again. "The information submitted regarding the justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay were not reliable," read a checklist returned with his passport from the Spanish consulate in Lagos.
The 32-year-old gaming consultant said he felt humiliated. "I had to cancel meetings with partners at the conference I was attending," he told CNN. "I emailed the embassy to understand why I was denied but it has not been answered to date." Anyaegbu's was among the 50,376 short-stay Schengen visa applications rejected in Nigeria last year, nearly half of all submissions, according to newly released data from the European Commission.
