Dubai: Dubai and Zurich-headquartered visa outsourcing and consular services provider VFS Global has signed a pact with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Commerce to open a visa application centre within its premises in Riyadh.
The visa application centre will cater to 8,000 employees, delegates, and personnel of subsidiary government institutions under the Ministry. VFS Global will also provide the ‘visa at your doorstep’ service to simplify the application process for all applicants. The company staff will visit the applicant’s chosen location to complete the application process, VFS said in a statement.
“We are very pleased to offer this dedicated Visa Application Centre service to the employees and associates of the Ministry to enhance their visa application experience further in a seamless, convenient, and secure manner,” said Zubin Karkaria, Founder and CEO of VFS Global.
This partnership will also ensure VFS Global’s position as the Kingdom’s trusted partner to client governments. It will add to the chain of collaborations with Saudi Arabia, which includes agreements with Aramco, Neom, and Chambers of Commerce.
In an earlier interview with Gulf News, Zakaria said on VFS Global’s expansion plans in KSA, “Saudi Arabia are well on their way to cross demand from 2019 levels. People will be more resilient, and the propensity to pay will be very high. There will be more destinations people will want to travel to as well.”
Late last year, VFS Global announced it had won the global contract for overseas UK visa and Citizenship services. This year, VFS Global will deploy 240 Visa and Citizenship Application Service (VCAS) Centres for the UK in 142 countries across Africa and the Middle East, the Americas, Australasia and Europe, China & Taiwan, and Asia and Asia Pacific.
“These centres will accept all visa and UK passport application categories in some locations. Combined, these new centres are estimated to process 3.8 million applicants yearly,” the company said.
