Leading global outsourcing and technology service specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide, VFS Global has crossed milestone of having processed 300 million applications so far, with a large share of the growth having come in the past five years, indicating an accelerating performance.

In a press statement, VFS Global says that it is notable that the last 100 million applications have been achieved in the past five years despite the pandemic-driven travel slow-down of 2020-2022. It adds that in 2023 alone, the company processed 24.1 million applications, 35 pc more than 2022 and between January to May 2024, it has processed approximately 100,000 applications a day.

Zubin Karkaria

“We are very pleased and honoured with the achievement of this milestone, which is a testament to the trust 69 governments have in VFS Global, and a testament to the reliable, secure and innovative services we provide across 153 countries. We are also deeply grateful to all visa applicants using our services. Over the past year we are honoured to have won several important contracts, including becoming the exclusive overseas visa outsourcing partner for UK Visas and DHA Australia, and contracts with Germany, Finland, Portugal and Japan who have renewed their trust in us. We remain deeply committed to continuing investments in technology and human capital development to ensure continuous enhancement of our services,” says Zubin Karkaria, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, VFS Global Group.

The statement adds that from managing 60 client governments in 2019, VFS Global now has 69 client governments, including long-term partnerships of over 15 years with 25 governments.

The visa services company says that last year, it was honoured to have won a record seven global visa outsourcing contracts, namely for the United Kingdom, Australia, Norway, Sweden, Latvia, Iceland and Austria and further cementing client governments’ trust in the organisation’s highly secure, efficient, and innovative solutions and its overall value proposition.

The statement adds that innovation and technology being a founding pillar for VFS Global, a company that conceptualised and created the business segment of outsourced visa services with its inception in 2001. 

For instance, the company has introduced 16 unique digital solutions and built robust end-to-end eVisa platforms for 12 sovereign governments. Likewise, it pioneered biometric capabilities as another example of innovation and adapting to changing market dynamics. VFS Global says it has processed more than 140 million biometric enrolments since 2007. Today as more governments look to integrating biometric enrollment in their visa application process, VFS Global has further developed its capabilities with Multi-Mission Model (MMM) biometric kits.

The company says that currently it is strategically focussed in leveraging GenAI-led capabilities to bring more efficiency in the customer journey. After partnering with the Responsible AI Institute to ensure responsible and ethical use of AI, the market leader has set up an AI hub in Mumbai and Dubai with one more, in Berlin, in the pipeline.