JOIN USFlying out of India: Visa application process begins for eight countries
Gearing up for the resumption of international flights after July 15, the Visa application process has now restarted for seven countries, including Belarus, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, South Korea, Turkey, Dominican Republic, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) Global will recommence the process for three more countries including the United Kingdom by July 6. While visas for all 11 countries can be applied from VFS Visa Application Centre (VAC) in New Delhi, its Bengaluru Centre will process visas only for the UK and Ireland.
Strictly following social-distancing norms, VFS Global will accept the applications only through appointments, informed VFS’s Regional Head (West & South Asia, Maldives, and Sri Lanka) at a virtual conference on Wednesday. “Customers will have to mandatorily schedule an appointment online, through the website www.vfsglobal.com, prior to visiting the VAC,” he said.
UK-bound passengers could apply for all category visas in 10 cities including Bengaluru (Global Tech Park VAC) from July 6. The other cities are Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Chennai (subject to local lockdown regulations), Jalandhar, Kochi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune.
Student visas and long-stay visa applications for Ireland will also be processed at all these 10 cities from July 6.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has approved online e-Visa applications under all categories for Emirates passengers from June 25. Re-entry visa applications for Italy will commence at the VFS New Delhi center on July 3.
Passport status
On the status of passports submitted before services were suspended, the official said passports returned to VFS Global after assessment by the Embassy/Consulate will be given back to the customers when the VACs are allowed to re-open.
VFS Global does not seek a medical report for customers visiting its Centres. However, “the reports are often part of required documentation in some visa applications (may or may not be related to Covid-19).” The official advised applicants to check the updated document checklist for the destination country, “in case any medical and vaccination histories are required as part of the visa application.”
For applicants who already hold a valid work or residence permit, the travel/entry will depend on entry restrictions of that country. “For fresh applications, this depends on the country you are applying for. Several countries have put in place border control measures, temporarily disallowing certain non-essential travelers from submitting visa applications.”
Those with existing visas that have expired or expiring soon, could re-apply for a fresh visa when operations resume. VFS Global had processed six million applications from 51 centers in 2019.