World news story

UK opens new Visa Application Centres in Mumbai

The UK opens two new Visa Application Centres (VACs) in Mumbai as it renews its partnership with VFS Global to provide visa application services in India and across South Asia.

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The Mumbai VACs, located at Bandra-Kurla Complex and Nariman Point will provide an enhanced experience for visa applicants in Mumbai. The introduction of a New Premium Lounge at the Bandra-Kurla Complex VAC offers applicants a plush and relaxed experience, with a little more privacy, while applying for a visa.

The UK partnership with VFS Global has now been extended until 2019. Under the new contract, VFS Global and the UK Government will ensure that the VACs in a number of key markets are located as conveniently as possible for visa applicants. In particular in South Asia, the new contract also foresees major refurbishment of all VACs.

The UK also announced that it would be extending its “Passport Passback” service to all locations in India. This service allows applicants to retain their passports while visa decisions are being made, in particular to support business travellers needing to travel in the interim period. It also helps those visiting the UK who also wish to apply for other visas.

Opening the new VAC in Bandra-Kurla Complex, Sir James Bevan, the British High Commissioner to India said:

The UK already provides an excellent service to visa applicants in India. Our 13 VACs and numerous additional offerings, including our same day visa service, underline that the UK is open for business. This new contract will allow us to further improve our service here and continues to show that India is always at the forefront of new services and improvements in our offer to visa applicants. I am particularly pleased to be launching this partnership by opening the new Visa Application Centre here. Mumbai is a world class city and the new VACs demonstrate our commitment to providing a world class service.

Thomas Greig, Regional Director to Central Asia, South Asia & Turkey, UK Visas & Immigration said:

UK Visas and Immigration want to work with the best companies in the world so I am delighted that UKVI’s long standing relationship with VFS Global has been extended for another five years. We have already worked with VFS Global to deliver a number of highly successful improvements to our service in India. Our plans for new Visa Application Centres along with the expansion of our Passport Passback Service mean that I am confident that our partnership will go from strength to strength.

Anil Katoch, Head – South Asia, VFS Global said:

We are honoured to be associated with the UK, an esteemed client government. We are also delighted to offer applicants and travel agents from Mumbai two new Visa Application Centres with state of the art facilities. We support the UK Government in its initiative to introduce next generation outsourced visas with an enhanced service and comfortable and conveniently located Visa Application Centres.

Further Information:

  1. The new contract, a part of the next generation outsourced visas (NGOV) project, help deliver improved customer services including increased access to premium and priority services such as priority visas, and to deliver efficiencies in the visa application process. It will deliver the next set of outsourcing contracts for the visa application process, including biometric enrolment, courier services and interviewing facilitation. It will offer the flexibility needed to support current and future service.

  2. From 1 April 2014, for information on the visa application process, customers will now be able to call a new international contact centre run by Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) which will provide services in more than twenty languages.

  3. The 2 New VACs are situated in the heart of the commercial centre in the North and South of Mumbai. It offers more convenience with attention to access for the disabled, dedicated website for easy access, visa information including visa types, applicable fees and application status, professional and responsive staff with local language capability dedicated to handle visa queries, premium lounge and doorstep delivery of passports.

  4. Effective 3 March, the new Kolkata VAC and our newly furbished VACs in New Delhi, Jalandhar, Chandigarh and Kathmandu have already gone live.

  5. For more information on Opening Hours of operation please visit the VFS website.

Published 12 March 2014