Tag Archives: VFS Global

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has awarded VFS Global an extension to its global contract for visa processing services in four regions – Asia and Oceania, Europe and Russia, Middle East and Africa, and the Americas. VFS Global currently operates 101 Visa Application Centres across 39 countries for Norway. VFS processes approximately 260,000 Norway visa applications globally each year and travellers from China, Russia, Thailand and India account for most of the inbound traffic into Norway. Chris Dix, Head – Business Development, VFS Global, remarked, “We are delighted to continue our partnership with the Norwegian government. This is not only commercially important for VFS Global, but also in demonstrating the Norwegian government’s trust in VFS, further reinforcing our company’s position as the leading  visa services partner to Schengen member states and to 57 client governments worldwide.” The Royal Norwegian Government reported the country’s tourism industry had another record year in 2016, following strong growth in the number of visitors in 2015. Figures compiled by Statistics Norway show average annual growth in the number of foreign visitors to Norway has exceeded the international average since 2010.

Gulf Air in partnership with VFS Global launched a Bahrain Tourist Visa Service exclusively for the airline’s passengers flying across its global network to Bahrain. Travellers with return tickets of Gulf Air can now conveniently apply for a visa to the Kingdom of Bahrain online via visa.gulfair.com or by visiting their local Gulf Air sales office with the necessary documents no more than 30 days prior to travel to submit their application. Captain Waleed Abdul Hameed Al Alawi, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Gulf Air said, “We are delighted to launch the Bahrain Tourist Visa Service, making the process of obtaining a visa to enter Bahrain easier. We anticipate positive feedback from our customers and look forward to welcoming more people from around the world to Bahrain to experience all that the Kingdom has to offer.” Vinay Malhotra, COO – Middle East & South Asia, VFS Global said, “The dedicated online platform not only makes applying for a visa to Bahrain quicker and more convenient than ever before, but also provides passengers with 24×7 accessibility and online tracking of their visas.”  

Expanding its network of Cyprus Visa Application Centres in India, VFS Global has launched new centres for applicants in four additional cities of Thiruvananthapuram, Goa, Gurgaon and Jaipur. The centre in Thiruvananthapuram was inaugurated by Demetrios A. Theophylactou, High Commissioner of Cyprus to India. Theophylactou said, “The opening is quite timely, also due to a noticeable increase in visa related queries from Kerala. I believe that this centre would further enhance visa services and also promote people-to-people contacts, thus contributing to our bilateral relations. The centre would work in close cooperation with the Consular Department of the High Commission to achieve the goal of efficient issuance of visas.” Vinay Malhotra, Chief Operating Officer – Middle East and South Asia, VFS Global said, “Cyprus is fast emerging as a popular destination of choice for leisure and business travellers from India due to its abundant natural beauty and historical heritage. We are proud to expand the network of Cyprus Visa Application Centres across the South Asia region as a whole.”

VFS Global recently received authorisation from the Royal Thai Embassy in New Delhi and its Consulates in Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai to process Thailand Visa Application Centres across India. In order to provide convenience to the travellers from across East, West, North and South India, VFS Global has expanded its network of Thailand Visa Application Centres to 13 cities. VFS Global has already been servicing Thailand visas in East, North and South India, with centres in the cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Gurugram, Kochi and Chandigarh. With the addition of operations in Western India, travellers can now also apply for a Thailand visa at any one of the VFS Global Thailand Visa Application Centres in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Goa. Vinay Malhotra, Chief Operating Officer – Middle East and South Asia, VFS Global, says, “Thailand has long been a popular destinati0n for Indian travellers, and a long-standing partner of VFS Global. For well over a decade, we have proudly served The Royal Thai Embassy and The Royal Thai Consulate General in India, with nine centres. It is therefore an honour to announce that VFS Global has been authorised to expand its Thailand visa services across India through its network of visa centres in 13 cities.” With Thailand emerging as one of the top destinations for Indian travellers, VFS Global’s appointment as a service provider will greatly benefit the growing volumes of applicants from India. When applying through VFS Global, applicants will be able to avail of the additional benefits on offer across VFS Global’s Visa Application Centres including services such as SMS updates, courier services, online tracking services, among others.

VFS Global has completed the acquisition of visa service provider TT Services (TTS). The transaction enables VFS Global to leverage on core competences and brands and to further enhance operating performance. UK-based TTS is a provider of integrated visa processing solutions with global presence and a comprehensive portfolio of services. The company operates 51 application centres in more than 35 countries and has 216 employees and offers a range of visa services for its client governments, partners and applicants. Zubin Karkaria, CEO of VFS Global Group, says, “TT Services has, like VFS Global, extended industry experience of more than 15 years and is a trusted service delivery partner for its clients. I see a strong fit by TTS joining VFS Global. This will enable us to further enhance and extend our services towards our client governments and visa applicants.” The change of control will have no bearing on the business operations of the parties and act as a catalyst to improved services and enhanced client and customer satisfaction.

In a move that will ease the visa application process for potential travellers from the surrounding regions of Delhi/NCR, the Embassy of the Czech Republic and VFS Global have opened a Visa Application Centre in Gurugram. Earlier this month, visa applications centres were also opened for the Czech Republic in Chandigarh and Jalandhar. H.E. Milan Hovorka, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to India, said, “The Gurugram centre marks the launch of another important location within Delhi and NCR where people can submit their Schengen visa applications for travel to the Czech Republic via VFS Global. We thus continue to deliver on our promises. This is not the end of our endeavours, as we will soon announce the opening of additional Czech Visa Applications Centres in the market.” Commenting on the new VAC in Gurugram, Vinay Malhotra, Chief Operating Officer – Middle East and South Asia, VFS Global, said, “It is our privilege to be the trusted partner of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in India. The extension of our association with this esteemed client across the region reflects their faith in our ability to provide services to enhance the visa application experience for travellers. In view of the increase in travel to the Czech Republic, we are confident our efforts will make the travel experience seamless and smooth.”

The Embassy of the Czech Republic and VFS Global inaugurated the 15th and 16th Czech Republic Visa Application Centres in Chandigarh and Jalandhar respectively, significantly extending the network of visa application facilities in the north of India. The centre in Chandigarh was inaugurated by HE Milan Hovorka, Ambassador of the Czech Republic in India, at a ceremony held on 05 July 2017. At the launch, HE Milan Hovorka, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to India, said, “The launch of the Czech Republic Visa Application Centre in Chandigarh reflects the country’s genuine commitment to provide for the growing demands of visas to the country among Indian tourists, business and culture. As a result of this policy, the Czech Republic has emerged as one of the preferred European destinations for Indian tourists.” The opening of 16 visa application centres in India over a two-year period signifies VFS Global’s strengthening association with the Embassy of the Czech Republic. Commenting on the launch of the visa centres, Vinay Malhotra, Chief Operating Officer – Middle East and South Asia, VFS Global, said, “Outbound traffic from India is constantly growing, and the Czech Republic in particular is rapidly gaining popularity as a preferred tourist destination among Indian travel enthusiasts. With North India being a large source market for travel to Europe, the new centres will help enhance the visa services network for the Czech Republic visa applicants in the region.” VFS Global also operates as the official representative of the Czech Tourist Authority – Czech Tourism, in India since November 2016. Besides Chandigarh and Jalandhar, other cities where applicants can submit visa applications for the Czech Republic are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Jaipur, …

VFS Global has urged travel agents to be aware of fake visa and immigration scam by fraudsters posing as VFS employees. In recent months, VFS Global that partners with 52 client governments worldwide to provide visa services has been faced with a vexing problem. A small but significant number of people who have applied for visas to various countries have been getting calls from fraudsters posing as company employees, giving them false promises of job or immigration prospects abroad. Vinay Malhotra, COO – Middle East and South Asia, VFS Global, reveals, “There have been instances when the initial phone call supposedly from VFS Global would be followed up by official-looking employment offer letters and other documents, sent by email. In acceptance of the job or immigration offer, the visa applicants would be asked to deposit huge sums of money to a bank account, details of which could be found in the letter.” Investigations into the matter have pointed to misuse of technology, where fraudsters zero in on easy victims. Unfortunately, some unsuspecting visa applicants, raring to start life anew in a foreign locale, have readily parted with the amount. With an increase in the number of instances of such fraudulent operations taking place, misusing the name of VFS Global, the company has begun to take proactive measures to warn applicants of this menace. Malhotra says, “Through our call centres, SMS alerts, website updates, emails etc, we are sending out messages that no personnel or representative from VFS Global is authorised to guarantee a job or immigration to applicants in any of the client countries. Also, VFS Global has categorically stated that applicants should not make upfront payments and refrain from …

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, represented by Embassy of Georgia in New Delhi launched its visa facilitation centre in the capital city in collaboration with VFS Global, which will be operational from June 23. Four other centres in Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai will begin operations by the end of this month. The key features of the centre include extended operating hours to enable visitors to submit applications at their time of convenience, dedicated website for easy access to information including visa categories, requirements, checklist, application fees and visa status update; premium lounges for personalised service, etc. The new centre in New Delhi was inaugurated by Giorgi Tabatadze, Director of Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and His Excellency Archil Dzuliashvili, Ambassador of Georgia to India. Dzuliashvili informed that in 2016 Georgia recorded 350,000 Indian visitors but is now looking at ways to increase the two-way traffic given the long standing history that the countries have shared. “I am happy to note that after several months of intensive consultations, we have successfully accomplished negotiation process with VFS Global and finally signed the contract which allows us to facilitate and offer more accessible services to the Indian travellers through the several VFS Visa Application Centres in India,” said Dzuliashvili. He further added that Georgia is emerging as a very popular destination amongst Indians and the country will try to reduce the turn over time for granting visas to Indian nationals for tourism, business and education. The destination is promoting tourism from Georgia to India as well. Vinay Malhotra, Chief Operation Officer-Middle East and South Asia, VFS Global commented, “We are honoured to enter into this partnership with …

The Embassy of the Czech Republic and VFS Global have launched the 13th Czech Republic Visa Application Centre in Puducherry, India, bringing access to visa application facilities for residents of Puducherry. The centre was inaugurated by Milan Hovorka, Ambassador of the Czech Republic in India, on May 08, 2017. The inauguration was also attended by other key members from the Embassy and VFS Global. This new centre in Puducherry is centrally located at Eswaran Kovil Street. At the launch, Hovorka said, “The launch of the Czech Republic Visa Application Centre in Puducherry reflects the country’s genuine commitment to bolster people-to-people contacts between the two friendly nations by tourism, business and culture. As a result of this policy, the Czech Republic has emerged as one of the most preferred European destination for Indian tourists.” Commenting on the launch, Vinay Malhotra, Chief Operating Officer – Middle East and South Asia, VFS Global, said, “We are pleased to further enhance the visa services network for the Czech Republic in India, through the visa application facility in Puducherry. The new centre will serve the ever-increasing volumes of visa applications for the Schengen country, and illustrates the emerging popularity of the Czech Republic as a tourist destination. We are confident that the introduction of professional and hassle-free Czech Republic visa services in Puducherry will be well-received by aspiring travellers from this city.”