VFS Global: Since 2016, there has been a 22 per cent increase in visa applications in India
Globally, VFS Global witnessed 16 per cent increase in number of visa applictions processed in all countries of operation around the world. South Asia emerged as top source market for foreign travel, with most number of visa applications recorded for this region.
In India in 2018, VFS Global processed 5.28 million applications with an overall increase of 13 per cent in visa applications observed since 2017. Over a two year period – i.e. since 2016 – there has been a 22 per cent increase in visa applications in India.
In 2018, countries for which most amount of visa applications were processed: US, UK, Canada, Malaysia, People’s Republic of China, Thailand, and Schengen group of countries (in no particular order). Emerging destinations (countries which showed significant increase in visa applications in 2018 over the previous year) were Japan, Turkey, Czech Republic, and Estonia, among some others (in no particular order).
The company serves 48 client governments through Visa Application Centres in 17 cities in India. Besides these centres, VFS Global also offers doorstep visa services for greater access to its services for citizens in every corner of the country.
Tier-II Indian cities have contributed significantly to the growth in outbound travel from India. Visa application counts in the major cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru grew consistently. Significant growth in visa application counts were witnessed in some other metros, such as Ahmedabad (32 per cent growth in 2018) and Pune (20 per cent growth in 2018). Steep year-on-year growth in count was recorded in Tier II cities, such as: Jalandhar (66 per cent), Chandigarh (54 per cent), Puducherry (43 per cent), and Goa (45 per cent).
Vinay Malhotra, regional group COO – Middle East, South Asia, and China, VFS Global said, “With the year-on-year increase in visa applications from India, it is evident that foreign travel is no longer the domain of a privileged few. A large part of this growth comes from the smaller cities – more Indians from these cities are travelling abroad than ever before, and are keen to explore even off-beat destinations.There is a greater comfort with visa application process as well today – the anxiety that people used to associate with the process has been significantly eased with options like personalised assistance, door-step services, and document upload assistance being offered at every step. As technology is used more and more to upgrade the customer experience, flexibility of services continues to be a top priority, so that the joy of travel begins at the visa application stage itself.”