Brussels (Somalia Today) — The European Union on Thursday tightened visa rules for Somali nationals, saying Mogadishu has failed to cooperate sufficiently in taking back citizens who have no legal right to remain in Europe.
The Council of the European Union said the temporary measures followed an assessment by the European Commission, which found Somalia’s cooperation on readmission “insufficient”.
The decision means EU member states can no longer issue multiple-entry visas to Somali nationals, waive documentary requirements for applicants, or waive visa fees for holders of Somali diplomatic and service passports.
The standard processing period for visa applications will also rise to 45 calendar days from 15.
“The objective is to encourage Somalia to improve cooperation on readmission,” the Council said, adding that the European Commission would continue to assess any progress.
The suspension has no fixed end date.
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud rejected the EU’s accusation, saying Mogadishu had not refused to receive its citizens but wanted European governments to verify that people marked for return were genuinely Somali.
“We have not rejected our people. Our people belong to this country, and we cannot reject them,” Hassan Sheikh said.
No visa ban
The measures do not amount to a visa ban on Somali travellers. But they will make the process slower, stricter and more costly for applicants seeking short stays in the Schengen area for family visits, business, study, medical treatment or official travel.
A Schengen short-stay visa generally allows non-EU nationals to remain in the bloc for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.
The decision follows months of pressure from EU governments, which have been seeking to increase returns of rejected asylum seekers and other migrants staying irregularly in the bloc.
EU home affairs ministers discussed Somalia earlier this month at a meeting in Luxembourg, where officials said irregular arrivals of Somali nationals had more than doubled between 2024 and 2025, with many journeys facilitated by smuggling networks.
Cyprus deputy migration minister Nicholas Ioannides said after the talks that EU governments had agreed to use “all available tools” when countries refused to cooperate on returns.
“We need to make use of all the tools at our disposal, including restrictive visa measures, when a third country insists on not being responsive regarding return and readmission,” Ioannides said.
Return pressure
The Commission first proposed the restrictions in 2024 under Article 25a of the EU Visa Code, a mechanism that allows the bloc to use visa policy as leverage when non-EU countries do not cooperate on readmission.
In that proposal, the Commission said Somalia’s return rate stood at just 4 per cent in 2023, citing problems with identifying Somali nationals, issuing emergency travel documents, and organising return operations.
EU officials also said member states faced “persistent challenges” because Somalia had not provided clear interlocutors and had given limited responses to readmission requests, particularly in cases involving forced returns.
The Commission said the measures were proportionate and would not stop Somalis from applying for visas or receiving them.
It also pointed to practical difficulties in processing Somali visa applications, including the absence of any EU member state present or represented in Somalia to issue visas, and differences among European governments over the recognition of Somali travel documents.
Somali nationals lodged 1,600 Schengen visa applications in 2022 and 2,600 in 2023, with around 1,000 and 1,600 visas issued respectively, according to the Commission’s 2024 proposal.
Identity checks
Hassan Sheikh said Somalia’s dispute with the EU centred on verification, not a refusal to take back Somali citizens.
He said some people from the wider Horn of Africa had claimed Somali identity in Europe to seek asylum, making it necessary for Mogadishu to confirm nationality before accepting returns.
“The only question we have is about the way these people are being returned,” he said. “Everyone from the Horn of Africa who has our colour and appearance has claimed our name in order to get political asylum.”
He said Somalia had previously received people described as Somali who did not speak Somali and were not Somali nationals.
“Today, our position is this: let us verify whether these people are citizens of the Federal Republic of Somalia. That is the only issue between us,” he said.
Somalia has previously pushed back against forced deportations while saying it welcomes the voluntary return of its citizens.
During a visit to Berlin in November 2024, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz there was no need for forced repatriation of Somalis living in Germany, according to comments relayed by the Somali presidency.
“They are welcome back to their homeland, reunite with their families, and reintegrate into their communities, where they can contribute to the country’s development and be part of Somalia’s collective progress,” Mohamud said.
Uneasy partnership
The latest EU move comes despite recent efforts to maintain a broader partnership with Somalia.
In May, the EU and the Somali federal government held their first Partnership Dialogue under the Samoa Agreement in Mogadishu, pledging to strengthen cooperation on peace and security, governance, justice, migration and economic development.
The two sides also agreed to continue technical discussions on returns and readmission.
But Thursday’s decision signals growing impatience in Brussels, where migration remains one of Europe’s most politically sensitive issues.
The EU’s new Pact on Migration and Asylum entered into application this month, promising faster asylum procedures, stronger border controls, greater burden-sharing between member states and closer cooperation with countries of origin and transit.
Eurostat figures show first-time asylum applications in EU countries fell by 27 per cent in 2025, to 669,400, but Somali nationals remained among notable groups in the system.
Somalis received 13,665 protection statuses in the EU last year, accounting for 3.8 per cent of all people granted protection. Somalia was also among the top countries of origin for unaccompanied minors seeking asylum, with 2,290 applications in 2025.
At the same time, EU governments have sought to raise the number of people returned after being ordered to leave. In the fourth quarter of 2025, 117,545 non-EU citizens received orders to leave an EU country, while 33,860 returned to third countries.
For Somalia, the visa decision adds a new point of friction with a major donor and security partner at a time when Mogadishu continues to seek European support for state-building, counter-terrorism, development and humanitarian needs.
