Inauguration of the Joint Visa Application Centre in New Delhi, India
VFS Global opened its largest visa application centre in Asia in New Delhi last week, equipped to process 12,000 visa applications per day for 31 countries including Japan, Australia, Austria, Belgium and the UK.
The US, China, Thailand and Malaysia will be serviced at VFS Global’s other centres in the city.
The facility is located at the heart of the Indian capital, at Connaught Place, spread across an area of 6224m2 with a total of 153 counters. It offers premium lounges, an intelligent queue management system, play area for children and a food court among other amenities.
“We may also look to open more such facilities in other Indian cities after gauging the success of the new centre,” said Vinay Malhotra, COO, South Asia, VFS Global.
Travel agents interviewed said the centre will benefit the leisure segment most. “It is great convenience for outbound tour operators and even the end consumer to have visa application facilities available for so many countries under one roof,” said Ashwani Sharma, CEO, Sheraton Travels.
“Leisure travellers are likely to benefit more as they prefer to avoid service charges incurred when availing the services of a travel agent,” said Sharma, adding that he expects outbound travel in north India to increase as a result.
