UK govt. makes it simpler for Indians to get visa applications

The government of the United Kingdom (UK) has alliedwith VFS Global, a technology services provider for diplomatic missions and governments across the world, to put in place two new initiativesthat aim to make it simpler for Indians traveling to UK to apply for their visas. The new service,‘On Demand Mobile Visa,’ will allow applicants tofill in the complete visa application form along with biometric data. This form can be sent from either their home or office, doing away with the requirement to pay avisit to a visa application centre. In order to complement this new service, VFS Global has also come up witha drive named‘Home to Home’(also known as H2H),which offers chauffeur services for pick-up and drop-off andhelpsin filling in forms and submitting them.This is intended to help applicants from remote places who would otherwise have to travel to cities to procure their visa applications. VFS Global Chief Operating Officer for South Asia, Vinay Malhotra, said thatinnovation was primary for their business development. This visa service,which is a premium service redefining flexibility and ease for travellers bound for Great Britain was a result of this innovation. The H2H service also meets the increasing demand for morepersonalisation and customer-friendliness in services, added Malhotra. Currently, this service is available to visa applicants in the cities of Bengaluru,Hyderabad, Chennai,Ahmedabad, Mumbai, New Delhi and Gurgaon. Nick Crouch,South & Southeast AsiaRegional Director for UK Visas and Immigration, stated that this was another alliance formed between UKVI and VFS in order to provide applicants the servicesthey would like to have.