The British High Commissioner for India Sir James Bevan formally opened the UK & Ireland’s new Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Connaught Place, Delhi. The new VAC brings a number of benefits to customers in the capital.
The new Centre is situated in the same premises as the Schengen VAC, allowing customers planning a European holiday or business trip the convenience of applying for both visas at the same time. Customers can simply apply for their UK visa, purchase the passport passback service in order to keep their passport while their UK application is processed, and then go across the hall to the Schengen VAC to apply for their Schengen visa.
The High Commissioner opined that more Indian visitors will be inspired to choose the UK for their next holiday following Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the UK last week. “We are committed to improving the visa service we offer to Indian customers to make it as straightforward as possible to apply for a visa and the opening of this new Visa Application Centre is another example of the improvements we are making,” he added.
“We have seen a large increase in the number of Indians travelling to Ireland in recent years and I’m sure this new facility will help the Embassy in providing a high quality service to our visa applicants. The introduction of the British Irish Visa Scheme has made it more convenient and better value for Indian visitors to travel to both Ireland and Britain as they now require only one visa in order to visit both countries,” Gerry Kelly, Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy of Ireland, said.
The new services include online payment assistance, certification, walk- in appointments, digital assist and group appointments regardless of the size of the group. The new VAC replaces the one in Nehru Place, which closed on 6 November and no longer accepts visa applications.
