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VFS Global

Company type	Private company
Founded	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India (July 2001 (2001-07))
Headquarters	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Zubin Karkaria (CEO)
Number of employees	8790 (31 July 2018)

VFS Global is an outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide. The company manages visa and passport issuance-related administrative and non-discretionary tasks for its client governments. It is based in Dubai.

The company operates in 139 countries on behalf of its 60 client governments. It has processed over 180 million applications since it commenced operations in 2001.

It has been accused of "extorting" and "mistreating" Visa applicants in countries such as Nigeria. Additionally, the company was also reported to be under investigation for allegations of abusive market dominance.

History

Origins

VFS Global was established in Mumbai in 2001, when it set up three Visa Application Centres for its first client government, the United States of America. By 2005 VFS Global served eleven governments including the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. By 2007, the company had obtained its first global account from UK Visas and Immigration for operations across 33 countries.

VFS Global works predominantly with a user-pay revenue model where it receives its service fee directly from the visa applicants, in addition to the visa fees which are remitted to the diplomatic mission.

Recent contracts

VFS Global was selected by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany to process visas in select locations in the regions of North Africa and Middle East. This included about ten countries in both regions Centres in the new regions will be launched in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Manama on 1 February 2018. In 2017, the company added eight new government clients. This included Armenia, Bahrain, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Georgia, Nigeria, Slovakia and Ukraine whereby VFS Global was servicing 58 client governments globally by offering a range of visa, permit, passport, consular, identity and citizen services at the end of the year.

VFS Global later regained visa processing services contracts by the Government of Italy in Cameroon, Ghana and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for another four years and also awarded a 3-year contract to manage Italy visa services to the residents of Libya after participating in an official tender published by the Embassy of Italy in Libya.

The company later extended contracts with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania and The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia on 15th February 2018. As part of the extension, VFS Global will service Croatia visas across 27 countries, and Lithuania visas in 9 countries.

New visa application centres

In February 2018, VFS Global announced the opening of Latvian visa application centres in the United Arab Emirates at Abu Dhabi and Dubai to process Schengen entry permits. This was part of the outsource mandate from the Latvian government for various countries which included UK, China, India, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Lebanon and South Korea.

In late 2017, VFS Global commenced the expansion of visa services network of Cyprus in India with new centres launched in four additional cities of Thiruvananthapuram, Goa, Gurugram, and Jaipur. These new centres commenced operations on 10 November 2017.The expansion of the network of Cyprus visa centres was to a total of 16 cities in India where applicants were offered additional services, such as SMS updates, courier services, online tracking services etc.

In August 2017, VFS Global acquired the UK-based visa service provider TT Services (TTS) for an undisclosed amount. At the time of the acquisition, TTS operated 51 visa application centres in over 35 countries with 216 employees.

Citizen services and partnerships

As part of a recent contract with DIFC Wills & Probate Registry, investors and residents in the UAE cities of Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah who have registered a will online were eligible to receive verification services from VFS Global as part of a 'Citizen Services' program. This came after the introduction of a law where asset-owners can use security features including e-authentication, verifying the identity of the testator and e-witnessing that ensures that the will was drafted and witnessed with no third party influence as part of the services provided.

In July 2017, VFS Global's education services arm-VFS Edu Support Services Pvt. Ltd., stated that they had entered into a partnership with UK-based Edtech Oxademy Technologies and its subsidiary Oxademy Business School in Mumbai. As part of the partnership, a new global digital learning platform ‘VFS-Oxademy' was formed with an artificial intelligence (AI) cloud infrastructure called OX360 was being launched.

VFS Global entered into partnerships with various commercial airline companies located in the GCC region to process e-visas through an online portal. In late 2016, the company's unit- Dubai Visa Processing Centre (DVPC) launched a mobile application for customers of Emirates Airline flying to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Earlier in 2016, Qatar Airways and Qatar Tourism Authority had also signed an agreement with VFS Global to support the tourist visa application system initiative for inbound travelers planning to visit Qatar.

In April 2017, the Kingdom of Bahrain's national carrier, Gulf Air, signed a partnership with the company for an online platform for travelers to Bahrain.

In early 2017, Czech Tourism appointed VFS Global as its India representative for a year to support Indian travel agents and tour operator cooperation.

ENIT - Italian State Tourist Board reopened its Mumbai office in 2013 in association with VFS Global to assist the Tourism Board to set up their India operations to promote Italy as a tourism destination. In February 2015, VFS Global was appointed to represent Macau Tourism Office in India. As part of the partnership MGTO opened an office in Mumbai

The VFS Global-Atout France initiative was rolled out as a pilot project for disseminating information about France's tourism opportunities.

Reviews

Many Visa applicants facing no other alternative but to apply through VFS Global have rated their services 1.5 out of 5 stars, with some reviewers arguing "There should be option to choose 'No Star' or 'Negative Rating' specially for their horrible Customer care." Former VFS employees have alleged the company is systematically deceitful to applicants, and that passports occasionally have been mishandled or lost due to poor organization.

References

1. "VFS Global". www.vfsglobal.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
2. "Dubai: Latvia Opens New External Visa Centres in UAE in Partnership with VFS Global". Dubai: .bellevision.com. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
3. Onyeji, Ebuka; Ayitogo, Nasir (14 May 2018). "How visa processing firm, VFS Global, 'extorts', 'mistreats' Nigerians". Premium Times. Abuja, Nigeria. Retrieved 26 September 2019. {{cite news}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
4. "VFS 'monopoly' indefensible – Portfolio Committee" (PDF). Travel News Weekly. No. 2535. 20 March 2019. p. 2. Retrieved 26 September 2019. {{cite news}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
5. "VFS Global to process Germany visas in ten 10 new countries". Dubai: Travel Daily News. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
6. "VFS Global now serves Germany across 19 nations globally". Dubai: PR Newswire. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
7. "VFS Global Further Strengthens Partnership With the Government of Italy". Dubai: IANS. 18 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
8. "Croatia and Lithuania Extend Their Contracts With VFS Global". Dubai: PR Newswire. 15 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
9. "VFS Global to process Schengen visa to Latvia". Dubai: Gulf News. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
10. "Cyprus Visa Application Centres now in 16 cities across India". India: Travel News Digest. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
11. "VFS Global completes acquisition of visa service provider TT Services". Delhi: The Times of India. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
12. "Residents with registered wills to receive free verification services". Dubai: Gulf News. 8 November 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
13. "VFS Edu Support Services partners with Oxademy to launch World's first 'AI-based' online learning programs for students". Mumbai: Business World Education. 26 July 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
14. "VFS Global introduces mobile app for UAE visas". India: Travel Trends Today. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
15. "Qatar Airways and QTA Sign Agreement with VFS Global". Doha: Marhaba. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
16. "Gulf Air, VFS Global ink partnership agreement". Doha: Bahrain News Gazette. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
17. "Czech Tourism appoints VFS Global as India rep". Mumbai: Tourism Breaking News. 23 February 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
18. "Czech Tourism appoints VFS Global as India rep". Mumbai: Travel Biz Monitor. 27 May 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
19. "VFS Global appointed Macau Tourism Office in India". Mumbai: Travel Biz Monitor. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
20. "Now, apply for a French visa in Bengaluru". Bangalore: The Times of India. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
21. "VFS Global is rated "Bad" with 1.5 / 5 on Trustpilot". Trustpilot. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
22. "VFS Global Reviews - 1.9 Stars". SiteJabber. Retrieved 13 September 2019.

• Outsourcing companies
• Companies established in 2001