Tag Archives: VFS Global

VFS Global has opened a new China Visa Application Center (VAC) in Kuwait, marking the opening of a third such visa submission facility in the Middle East after the launch of similar centers in Dubai and Beirut. A joint statement from the Chinese Embassy in Kuwait and VFS Global said residents applying for a visa to PR China need not visit the embassy to submit their visa applications going forward. The China Visa Application Center in Kuwait City, managed by VFS Global, will proficiently facilitate the end-to-end visa application submission process. Officially inaugurating the new China Visa Application Center, Zhao Liang, Charge d’Affaires —AI, Chinese Embassy in the State of Kuwait, said, “The State of Kuwait is the first Arabian country in the Gulf area to establish diplomatic relations with PR China and in recent years, the cooperation between the two countries in all fields have grown rapidly, thus encouraging the development of robust bilateral relations. To further facilitate and enhance people-to-people exchanges and to promote visa application service standards, PR China has established this new, professionally-managed China Visa Application Center in Kuwait. The new centre will offer the residents of Kuwait a more convenient and highly-efficient visa application service. We believe that the China Visa Application Center in Kuwait City will bring residents greater convenience when applying for a Chinese visa through its comfortable environment, well-equipped facilities and warm and thoughtful service”. Commenting on the center in Kuwait, Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO — Middle East, South Asia & China, VFS Global, said, “Ever since we began our partnership with the Government of PR China in 2008, we have steadily expanded the Visa Application Centre network across the Middle …

VFS Global has signed a contract with the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic for providing visa services in 10 countries worldwide. As per this new contract, VFS Global will now provide visa services for Slovakia in China, India, Kazakhstan, Palestine, Belarus, Russia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Egypt through 38 visa application centres. The rollout of all these new operations is expected to be completed by December 2018. Under the new contract, VFS Global will accept both short and long-term visa applications on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic. Chris Dix, Head – Business Development, VFS Global, said, “We are excited about our new partnership with the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic. The countries where we will be operating are markets where VFS Global has worked for several years and whose travellers are familiar with our services and expertise. We are also pleased to have the opportunity to serve our new clients in new locations, and bring applicants in these locations the same benefits and high-quality service that we have been offering our customers worldwide for the last 17 years.”

The German Embassy has announced the opening of a new visa application centre in Kuwait in a move aimed at bringing greater efficiency to visa application processing services and enhanced customer experience to the residents of Kuwait. The centre operated by VFS Global will also provide biometric enrolment facilities to residents of Kuwait applying for Schengen visas. The processing time for a Schengen visa takes a maximum of 15 days and can be applied for up to three months before the planned date of travel. The VFS Global German Visa Application Centre in Kuwait is located at Level 25, Arraya Tower 2, Al Shuhada Street, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Inaugurating the visa application centre, H E Karlfried Bergner, Ambassador of Germany to the State of Kuwait, said, “The opening of the new centre is in line with the mandate the Federal Republic of Germany has awarded VFS Global to open external visa application facilities in 10 countries world over, including the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.” Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO—Middle East, South Asia & China, VFS Global, said, “VFS Global has a robust and long standing relationship with the Federal Republic of Germany and in the MENA region alone, it is expected that we will handle some 200,000 visa applications a year. While the decision of granting visas will rest with the German Embassy, our endeavor will be to provide visa application submission services efficiently and diligently and to the delight of our customers in Kuwait.”

The Italian Embassy in Bahrain has opened a new visa application centre in Manama in partnership with VFS Global. In a joint statement, VFS Global and the Embassy said the new centre will provide greater seamlessness to visa application processing and resident visa applicants in Bahrain need not submit their Schengen visa applications at the Embassy. The visa application centre run by well-trained professionals will provide secure processing of entry permit requirements in a friendly ambience. Applicants can also opt for the comfort and privacy of a premium lounge. Inaugurating the visa application centre, HE Domenico Bellato, Ambassador of Italy to the Kingdom of Bahrain, said, “We are pleased to start a new chapter of cooperation with VFS Global, providing a state-of-the-art service in collecting applications for short-stay visas for travel to Italy and Malta as their main destinations in the Schengen area. We are confident that the new visa application centre will further increase the number of Bahraini citizens and residents in choosing Italy as their destination for tourism and business.” Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO – Middle East, South Asia & China, VFS Global, said, “The Italian mandate to VFS Global follows a 14-year old relationship with the client government and it is our commitment to provide efficient, secure and convenient visa application services to the residents of Bahrain travelling to Italy and/or Malta as their main destinations in the Schengen area.”

VFS Global has opened a UK visa application centre in Riyadh, close to the Diplomatic Quarter. The company said that the new centre in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which will serve travellers to the UK & Australia, is equipped to handle more visa applicants conveniently with increased seating capacity and ample parking space, while also offering ancillary travel services facilities within the premises. Officially inaugurating the new visa application centre, the Ambassador of United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia, HE Simon Collis, said, “‘Our customers in Saudi Arabia are extremely important to us, and we continually look for new and innovative ways to improve the visa service we offer, both to Saudi nationals and local residents. For Saudi nationals, the average processing time for non-settlement visas is less than five days.” The new centre is located at Al Hada District, besides Courtyard Marriott Hotel and close to Ritz Carlton, Riyadh. Visa applicants to the UK and Australia can access details on visa application procedures at  www.vfsglobal.co.uk/sa/en Commenting on the launch, Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO for Middle East, South Asia & China, VFS Global, said: “The new stand-alone centre has been designed to provide a comprehensive experience to applicants in terms of visa processing and accessing necessary travel services under one canopy. The UK continues to remain a popular destination for tourism, business and student visitors from Saudi Arabia. The latest visa figures show that over 130,000 Saudi nationals were issued a UK visa in the last year. We are confident that the new centre for the UK and Australia visa applicants will provide enhanced convenience to the customers.”

The Embassy of Ukraine has opened two visa application centres in Riyadh and Jeddah to efficiently serve travellers from Ukraine in partnership with VFS Global. In a joint statement, VFS Global and the Embassy said that both the centres have started accepting visa application submissions for processing both short-term and long-term visas to Ukraine. Opening the visa application centre, Head of Consular Section of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, HE Yurii Tereschenko said, “The new visa application centres have been opened in the light of increasing number of travellers to Ukraine from Saudi Arabia. The centres will considerably ease the visa application process providing streamlined service to expatriates from the Kingdom wishing to travel to Ukraine for both tourism and business purposes.” The inauguration of the centre was done in the presence of HE Serhii Pushkarsky, Deputy Head of Mission and Bohdan Kostiuk, Consular Assistant of the Embassy of Ukraine. The opening of the visa application centres follows the VFS Global mandate from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Under the terms of the contract, VFS Global is entrusted with the opening of 10 visa application centres in eight countries across the Middle East, Levant region and South Asia. Commenting on the launch, Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO for Middle East, South Asia & China, VFS Global, said, “We are confident that the opening of the Ukraine visa application centre in Saudi Arabia will help catalyse travel to the East European country from the Kingdom.

The Embassy of Ireland in Abu Dhabi has opened UAE’s first external visa application centre in partnership with VFS Global. All non-UAE Nationals who are based in the UAE and require a visa to enter Ireland will no longer need to visit the Embassy. They should instead route their visa applications through VFS Global’s centre located in downtown Abu Dhabi. H E Paul Kavanagh, Ambassador of Ireland to the UAE, said, “The new external visa application centre will provide an excellent streamlined service for non-UAE Nationals who are based in the UAE and who require a visa in order to enter Ireland.” UAE Nationals wishing to visit Ireland are exempt from all visa requirements. The Ireland visa application centre in the UAE is the third outsourced processing centre of Ireland in the GCC region in partnership with VFS Global, which now operates such centres for Ireland in 15 countries across the world. The VFS Global visa application centre for Ireland in Abu Dhabi is located at Level 25, Shining Tower on Mubarak bin Mohammed Street next to Khalidiyah Mall. Visa applicants based in the UAE can direct their queries to the call centre number +971 4 2055910 or communicate with the centre via email at info.irelandUAE@vfshelpline.com.

The Embassy of Latvia has announced the opening of external visa application centres in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in partnership with VFS Global, providing convenience to travellers from the UAE in processing Schengen entry permits to the Baltic nation. Visa applicants from the UAE need not henceforth approach the Embassy of Latvia for their visa requirements as VFS Global is mandated to handle the applications as well as biometric enrolment. Speaking at the inauguration, H.E. Astra Kurme, Ambassador of Latvia to the UAE said, “It is an important step towards facilitating contacts between people and nations. The possibility to apply and receive visa to visit Latvia will significantly improve tourism and business exchange not only between Latvia and the United Arab Emirates, but also the whole Gulf region as the Embassy’s consular mandate covers all GCC region.” Vinay Malhotra, COO–Middle East & South Asia, VFS Global, said, “We are honoured to be part of this growing relationship between the two countries and are confident to bring enhanced level of efficiency in services and a seamless, delightful customer experience to visa applicants from the UAE.”

In a move to ease the visa issuance process for the residents of Kuwait, the Embassy of Italy in collaboration with VFS Global launched a new visa application center, located at Level 54 of Arraya Tower at Al Shuhada Street. The centre was recently inaugurated by H.E. Mr. Giuseppe Scognamiglio, Ambassador of the Embassy of Italy to the State of Kuwait. Among the many services provided for greater convenience to applicants, is the option to submit their applications in the comfort of a Premium Lounge for a more personalised experience. In addition to efficient visa application processing services, applicants will also have access to a dedicated tourism space, which will offer tourism information on a range of hand-picked tours in Italy. Kuwait is the fifth country in the Middle East from where VFS Global will serve the Embassy of Italy. Worldwide, VFS Global has served the Government of Italy since 2004, and currently manages visa processing operations for the client government in 28 countries from 66 visa application centres.

Czech tourism authority in collaboration with VFS Global commenced a roadshow in Kuwait and UAE to showcase various tourist attractions and products to trade, tourism and business partners in the Middle East. The roadshow campaign was titled ‘Czech Republic – Land of Stories’. UAE is the number one tourism source market for the Czech Republic in the Middle East, followed by Saudi Arabia. H.E. Alexandr Sporýš, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United Arab Emirates, together with Monika Palatková, Managing Director of the Czech Tourist Authority interacted with the media at the event held in Dubai. “I’m pleased that Czech Tourism regularly promotes the Czech Republic as a tourism destination in the UAE and in other countries in the Middle East market. VFS Global is a reliable partner in the visa area and I am convinced that the partnership of Czech Tourism with this company will lead to a further increase of interest about the Czech Republic”, commented H.E. Alexandr Sporýš, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United Arab Emirates.