DWine Insight

Part of the Zurich based Kuoni Travel Group, VFS Global was established in 2001, in Mumbai (India), as a specialist partner for diplomatic missions worldwide. VFS Global serves diplomatic missions by managing all the administrative and non-judgmental tasks related to visa application, enabling diplomatic missions to focus entirely on the key tasks of assessment and interview.

Today, VFS Global serves 16 diplomatic missions in 31 countries worldwide, handling over four million applications (contracted) every year. In early 2006 VFS Global was awarded a 200 million contract (spread over 5 years) with UK Visas to provide visa outsourcing services in 7 geographical regions, covering close to about 70% of UKvisas visa applications globally.



In addition VFS is also the first Indian company to be awarded contracts for visa outsource services by the Government of India. As on date, VFS Global has been awarded contracts to provide outsource service to the Embassy's of India at Beijing, Bangkok & France.

As a reliable partner, VFS Global has always relied on Trust, Technique and Technology to maximise convenience and efficiency for both diplomatic missions as well as the visa applicants.

TRUST
The survival of VFS Global's business depends entirely on the trust diplomatic missions place in them. As a rule, all our business dealings are conducted strictly as per the code of ethics laid down by the client governments.

VFS's authority extends only to the documentation and selection process. The issuing of visas is solely at the discretion of the concerned high commission. To ensure that there are no unethical practices whatsoever, a vigilance and security team closely monitors all interactions with applicants. A clear directive from top management also ensures that no employee attempts to influence any application or seek any favours from diplomats.

TECHNIQUE
VFS Global is committed to provide individually customized solutions to each client government. For every new assignment, a Project Management Team studies the processes of the new client government in micro-detail and proposes customised solutions accordingly. VFS's prior experience with other governments, always serves as a library of best practices for our reference.

TECHNOLOGY
VFS Global has made major investments in software development in order to handle large volumes of applications. They have developed proprietary software systems for passport tracking, database creation and data upload. Their technology support also extends to website maintenance and online appointment scheduling facilities.

They have entered into technical and support agreements with leading IT hardware and software giants to ensure compliance to security policies and also adhere to meeting the stringent norms of diplomatic missions on IT Security and Data Protection. They have contracted with one of the Top 5 global Audit firms to conduct health checks and internal reviews on their systems and procedures so as to ensure robustness and continuous monitoring of the commitment to agreed customer service levels.