Tag Archives: VFS Global

VFS Global, an official ticket reseller for Expo 2020 Dubai, to be held in the UAE between October 20, 2020 and April 10, 2021, has revealed the packages it will be offering visitors from March 2020, in an official ceremony held in Riyadh. Customers travelling to the UAE during Expo 2020 will be able to either visit vfsglobal.com, or head to a VFS Global Visa Application Centre in Riyadh or Jeddah, and reserve their Expo 2020 tickets from the Dubai Travel Shop on site. VFS Global will be offering the following single- and three-day passes to the expo, as well as a range of packages: Inclusions Rates (in AED) ½ Day Dubai city tour + 1 day Expo ticket 193+ 5% VAT 1 Day Abu Dhabi city tour + 1 day Expo ticket 258+ 5% VAT Desert Safari + 1 day Expo ticket 298+ 5% VAT Desert Safari (Overnight camping with Igloo tent & sleeping bag) + 1 Day Expo ticket 408 +5% VAT Dubai Canal Dhow Dinner cruise + 1 Day Expo ticket 328 +5% VAT Dubai visa + 1 day Expo ticket 462+ 5% VAT Customers who opt to submit their visa application through the Premium Lounge can also enjoy discounts on the packages they purchase. Open seven days a week for a period of 173 days and featuring over 190 country pavilions, Expo 2020 Dubai is set to be the biggest show in the UAE.

The Republic of Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs and VFS Global have signed a contract to ease the passport renewal process for Philippine nationals living in the UAE. Brigido Dulay, Undersecretary Consular & Civilian Security Concerns and Chris Dix, Head of Business Development, VFS Global signed the contract witnessed by Hon. Teodoro L. Locsin, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Republic of the Philippines and Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO, South Asia, Americas, Middle East & North Africa, VFS Global and inaugurated the first such passport renewal centre in Dubai, UAE, in a formal ceremony today. Prior to this, Philippine residents in the UAE had to visit the Philippines Consulate in Dubai or the Embassy in Abu Dhabi for passport renewal. However, with the opening of the new ePassport Renewal Centre, customers will have an additional avenue to complete the process. This is the first time The Republic of Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs has outsourced its passport renewal process. Under the contract signed, the rollout of the Dubai centre will be followed by similar centres in Abu Dhabi and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2020. Outsourcing the process to VFS Global gives the government a trusted partner, with established infrastructure and expertise in the field. VFS Global already operates 87 centres providing passport and consular Services to 5 Governments in 27 countries worldwide. Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO, South Asia, Americas, Middle East & North Africa, VFS Global said, “We would like to thank The Republic of Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs for their faith in us. Our passport and consular services have been growing to strength and we look forward to bringing those best in class services to the Philippines …

VFS Global has been named as an official ticket reseller for Expo 2020 Dubai to be held in the UAE between October 20, 2020 and April 10, 2021. Sanjive Khosla, Chief Commercial Officer, Expo 2020 Dubai, and Zubin Karkaria, CEO, VFS Global Group, signed the contract on October 20, 2019 in Dubai. VFS Global will be offering a range of packages with suggested itineraries that include single and three-day passes to visit Expo 2020 Dubai. Customers who opt to submit their visa application through the premium lounge, or hold a VFS Global Privilege Program membership, can also enjoy discounts on the packages they purchase. Zubin Karkaria, CEO, VFS Global Group said, “We have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the UAE, one that has grown to strength over the years. We are proud to be an official ticket reseller for Expo 2020 Dubai and look forward to extending our new, special range of packages to customers.” Sanjive Khosla, Chief Commercial Officer, Expo 2020 Dubai, said, “Having VFS Global on board puts us in a great position to meet our ambitious targets and draw 25 million visits through the gates of the world’s greatest show. Expo 2020 is going to be the greatest celebration of human brilliance and achievement, and VFS Global will help make sure everyone in the world has the opportunity to experience it.”

VFS Global officially inaugurated its new Abu Dhabi Joint Visa Application Centre at a more comfortable and premium location in terms of amenities and infrastructure. The newly relocated centre is situated at Level B2 (Lower Ground), The Mall, World Trade Centre, Khalifa Bin Zayed the 1st Street (Airport Road), Abu Dhabi. Spread across 24,000 square feet, the new centre serves 28 client governments and is expected to process over 100,000 visa applications annually. The centre is equipped with 72 application submission counters and can accommodate up to 1,500 applicants a day. For customers seeking luxury and convenience, the Abu Dhabi centre offers 24 submission counters in its Premium Lounges. The new centre is dedicated to the memory of the late His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Former Ruler of Abu Dhabi and Founding Father of the UAE. Representing the UAE government and having unveiled the statue of His Highness Sheik Zayed – H.E. Dr. Ahmed Al Banna, Ambassador of the UAE to India, said, “Abu Dhabi is thrilled to welcome the seamless and automated VAC experience that this centre will deliver to travellers from Abu Dhabi.” Commenting on the launch of the new centre, Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO for Middle East, South Asia & China, VFS Global, said, “The launch of the new Abu Dhabi centre, which is one of the biggest in the region, reflects our vision to provide world-class facilities to match the UAE capital’s strong demand for best-in-class visa application services.”

VFS Global, the world’s largest outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide, relocates its Visa Application Centre in Abu Dhabi to a more accessible and premium location in terms of amenities and infrastructure. Commenting on the key features of the new centre, Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO for Middle East, South Asia & China, VFS Global, said, “The expansive new centre serves 27 client governments and provides outbound travellers from Abu Dhabi a very convenient visa application platform, ensuring enhanced quality of services and seamless procedures in a spacious environment. Visa applicants can enjoy personalised services while submitting their visa applications in the comfort of luxurious Platinum or Premium lounges.” Following the relocation, customers can submit their visa applications in an even more convenient and comfortable environment at the new VFS Global centre situated at Level B2 (Lower Ground), The Mall, World Trade Centre, Khalifa Bin Zayed the 1st Street (Airport Road), Abu Dhabi. The newly relocated centre is larger, with a greater applicant accommodating capacity compared to the previous centre, along with high security control and ample parking space.   From this centre, customers can apply for visas to Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malaysia, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom and Ukraine. In 2018, VFS Global processed approximately half a million applications from the United Arab Emirates alone, and Abu Dhabi centre accounted for over 80,000 visa applications.

VFS Global is welcoming Saudi talent to consider a future in the tourism sector as the country accelerates its efforts towards becoming a world-class tourist hub. Building on its Saudisation initiative, which has achieved 51 per cent and a Platinum status under the Saudi Nitaqat programme since being launched across Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar in 2018, VFS Global is encouraging Saudi students to opt for career paths within the organisation as it eyes exceeding 60 per cent Saudisation by 2020. To date, the company’s efforts have been devoted to hiring over 60 qualified Saudi national interns. Since 2018, VFS Global has partnered with the King Saud University, King Abdulaziz University and Jeddah University. The company is currently working on internship agreements with Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University and Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University. Dr. Adeeb A. Al-Khaliel, Vice – Rector Assistant for Industrial and Business Relation, King Saud University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said, “The tourism industry shows promising potential for the leadership’s vision and we are pleased with the Saudisation initiative VFS Global has incorporated in its organisational framework.” Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO, VFS Global, said, “ As a company with strong foundations in the tourism sector, VFS Global is pleased to welcome more Saudi nationals into this innovative space in order to highlight potential employment opportunities and make progress towards KSA’s Vision 2030 directives for launching promising sectors.” In addition to the internship programme, VFS Global has also launched a management trainee programme for existing Saudi nationals to build on mid-level manager capabilities and provide rapid development career pathways.

Athletes and coaches from all around the world regularly criss-cross their region, country, or continent as they travel to one major sporting event after another in order to participate and compete. We spoke to Omar Al Souma, Saudi-based Al Ahli football player about the planning and preparation he needs to undertake for his travel. He has been playing football for almost two decades – his popularity skyrocketed in 2007 when he travelled from Syria to Dammam to participate in the Asian Youth Cup and lead his team to victory. Al Souma says that he has travelled frequently since and requires a visa for most countries he visits. Earlier, he had to visit the visa application centre to submit his application and biometric information but that has changed since he started using VFS Global’s new Visa At Your Doorstep service. The technology-enabled service brings the visa application process directly to the applicant, and that too at their preferred time and location. Recounting his experience, Al Souma said, “I have been playing matches all over and the visa process can be time consuming. Visa At Your Doorstep proved to be the best decision I could have taken for this process as I travel regularly – it not only enabled me to apply for my Schengen visa to France in comfort, but the team was professional, competent and consistently responsive to any questions I had.” “Throughout my Schengen visa application, VFS Global provided a personalised approach which suited my needs perfectly. The application that the French consulate received was very detailed and complete, which I feel was the reason why the whole experience was smooth and most importantly, brief,” he added.  

As the leading visa outsourcing and technology partner for several governments and diplomatic missions worldwide, VFS Global has achieved a milestone by processing a record 200 million visa applications. Set up in 2001, the company touched its first 100 million applications milestone in May 2015. Since then, the next 100 million applications were processed over a record four-year period. In 2018 alone, VFS Global processed 26.7 million applications globally – the most number of visa applications processed in any single year, registering a 16 per cent increase year-on-year. Commenting on this achievement, Zubin Karkaria, CEO, VFS Global Group, said, “We take pride in this achievement of processing our 200 millionth visa application, with 100 million of these processed in a timespan of the last four years. We are grateful for the co-operation of the 62 client governments we serve – 18 of which were added in last four years, pointing to the trust and credibility we have built since we started this journey in 2001.” Even through its rapid expansion, the company has introduced game-changing visa solutions offering greater convenience, reliability and flexibility in service. Some of these are: Visa at Your Doorstep, Mobile Visa Application Centres, the first visa services chatbot ViVA among others, introduced in the recent years. In terms of the total visa market (both outsourced and non-outsourced), VFS Global’s share is 15 per cent. Across the world, there are as many as 50 players catering to the visa outsourcing business, and together they hold a market share that is identical to VFS Global. VFS Global today has an unparalleled network of over 3,000 application centres with operations in 147 countries.

In addition to applying for an Italian visa at VFS Global Visa Application Centre, travellers heading to Italy from Bahrain now have access to a wealth of information at the newly inaugurated Italia Tourist Information Centre located in Manama. VFS Global, the world’s largest outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide, also launched The Little Book of Italy travel guide at the opening ceremony, in the presence of H.E Domenico Bellato, Ambassador of Italy to the Kingdom of Bahrain, on June 16, 2019. With the launch of the Italia Tourist Information Centre and the Little Book of Italy, VFS Global and the Italian Embassy aim at providing applicants with first-hand information on visa procedures and travel tips. Speaking at the inauguration, Bellato said, “It is a pleasure to inaugurate the Italia Tourist Information Centre in Bahrain. There are not many places globally which can match the combination of history, culture, scenery, fashion, shopping, and food offered by Italy. With the launch of this centre and the Little Book of Italy we hope visa applicants will receive timely touristic information from a reliable source. We are confident that the centre will help to further increase the number of Bahraini citizens and residents who choose Italy as their destination for tourism and business.” Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO – Middle East, South Asia & China, VFS Global, said, “We are excited to take our partnership with the Government of Italy to the next level with the launch of Italia Tourist Information Centre. Bahrain has a large number of travellers to Italy for leisure and business, and this new centre will bring accurate information to their close proximity as …

Citizens and expatriate residents of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia can apply for visas to Ireland at the new visa application centres jointly launched by the Embassy of Ireland in Saudi Arabia and VFS Global. With the launch of three new centres in Riyadh, Al Khobar and Jeddah, applicants can submit their visa applications at the VFS Global centres without having to visit the Embassy of Ireland. The new centres provide outbound travellers from Riyadh, Al Khobar and Jeddah a very convenient visa application platform, ensuring enhanced quality of services and seamless procedures. During the official inauguration event of the Visa Application Centre in Riyadh, Ambassador of Ireland to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said, “We are pleased to announce an extended partnership with VFS Global to open new centers to provide seamless visa application services to a greater number of travelers from Saudi Arabia. Ireland is recognised the world over for the hospitality of its people, its beautiful landscape and its cultural richness.With opening of these new centers we welcome travellers from Saudi Arabia to experience the beauty and hospitality of Ireland.” Visitors from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia account for approximately 33% of all visitors from the Middle East to Ireland. In 2018, approximately 6000 visitors travelled to Ireland from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. VFS Global has been associated with the Client Government of Ireland since 2004 and presently serves applicants through a network of 60 Visa Application Centers across 17 countries including Hong Kong, India, Russia, Turkey and United Arab Emirates, amongst others. Commenting on the launch of three new centers for visas to Ireland, Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO for Middle East, South Asia & …