A week ahead of the start of UPGIS-23, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Saturday, inaugurated the VFS Global Visa Application Center in Lucknow.

With the launch of this centre, the facility to complete the process related to visa application for 10 countries including – Austria, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Estonia, Hungary, Portugal, Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia – has become available in the state capital.

Speaking on the occasion, Yogi Adityanath said, “The inauguration of VFS in Lucknow a week before the Global Investors Summit is an opportunity not only for the residents of Lucknow but for the people of the entire state of Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh. For this, I heartily thank Mr. Zubin Kararia, the founder and CEO of the VFS and his entire team, and congratulate all of you on this occasion.”

The chief minister noted that with the launch of this center in Lucknow, applying for visas to 10 countries will become much easier for the residents of the state.

“In fact, by using technology in today’s time, we can achieve the goal of not only ‘ease of doing business’ but also ‘ease of living’. If a little effort is made in this direction, the goals can be achieved,” he said.

He continued by saying that the Prime Minister’s efforts over the last nine years to bring this comprehensive change to this country are now bearing fruit, and the results are in front of everyone, particularly with regard to visas, passports, and so on.

“You must have seen that over the past five to six years, the government has carried out numerous operations to rescue Indians stranded in other countries, or victims of disasters, an exercise which has been recognised on a global scale.”

Maintaining that the VFS Global was launched in 2001 by Zubin Karkaria, the CM said that this ‘Made in India’ company has now become a global leader in its field.

“VFS Global is the world’s largest provider of outsourcing and technical services in the field of visa processing to various Governments and Embassies/High Commissions. Presently, it is looking after passport and visa services for India in 12 countries around the world. So far, it has disposed of 2 crore applications,” the CM informed.

On the role played by the company in various missions of the Central government, Yogi stated, “It participated in missions such as “Operation Rahat”, which was carried out in 2015 to ensure the safe return of Indian citizens who were stranded in the war-torn Arab country of Yemen.”

‘Vande Bharat Mission-2020’ was conducted to safely bring back Indian citizens stranded abroad as a result of the ban on global travel due to Corona pandemic in the year 2020 while ‘Operation Devi Shakti – 2021’ was carried out to bring Indian citizens and Afghan allies from Kabul back safely after the Taliban captured Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan in the year 2021, the CM added.

The chief minister also mentioned the crisis that arose during the Russia-Ukraine conflict saying, “You must have seen recently that these outsourcing companies played a significant role in the effort launched by the Government of India to rescue Indian children from Ukraine during the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.”

He said the VFS Global Visa Application Center has the capacity to handle more than 1.20 lakh visa applications every year. “I have also been informed that VFS Global, in collaboration with the Indian Hotels Company Limited, will train the youth of the state in hospitality services as per the skill development program of the state government,” he added.

“This will benefit Uttar Pradesh’s youth and carry the state’s ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ legacy forward. This company, VFS, will help Uttar Pradesh achieve the goals of ‘ease of doing business’ and ‘ease of living’,” the CM concluded.