This is the question people get wrong most often, and getting it wrong means the file comes back without ever being assessed. It is also the question with the biggest hidden difference in outcomes, because refusal rates for Indian applicants ranged from 10.5% to 46.1% in 2025.
The rule
Article 5 of the Visa Code sets a three-step test, in order:
- If you are visiting one country only, you apply to that country.
- If you are visiting several, you apply to the one where you will spend the longest stay.
- If two countries get the same number of nights, you apply to your first point of entry.
Nothing else enters into it. Not where the appointment slot is free, not where your friend applied last year, not where the flight is cheapest.
Three worked examples
Nine nights in Italy. Italy is your only destination. Apply to Italy.
Four nights in Paris, six in Amsterdam. The Netherlands has the longest stay, so the Dutch consulate handles your file, even though you land in Paris.
Five nights in Germany, five in Austria, landing in Munich. The nights are tied, so the first point of entry decides. Germany takes the application.
Refusal rates for Indian applicants, 2025
Germany refused 10.5% of Indian applications across more than 153,000 files, the lowest rate of the high-volume consulates. Italy sat at 12.7% and Switzerland at 13.6%, both below the India average of 15.8%. At the other end, Slovenia refused 46.1%, Bulgaria 37% and Greece 33%.
In absolute numbers the picture is different again. France recorded the most Indian rejections in 2024 at 31,314, followed by Switzerland at 26,126, because volume and rate are separate things.
What this does and does not let you do
You cannot pick a consulate because its rate is lower. That is not how the rule works and misstating your itinerary to reach a friendlier consulate is misrepresentation.
What you can do is plan the trip knowing the consequence. If you are still deciding between ten nights weighted toward Greece and ten weighted toward Germany, the rate difference is real information, and it is yours to use before the itinerary is fixed.