UK Visa and Immigration, VFS Global launch two new services for Lankan travellers

The UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), together with VFS Global, Sri Lanka, last week launched two important new services for the benefit of travellers to Britain. 

One was the Super Priority Visa service enabling a traveller to get a visa within 24hours by paying Sterling Pounds 600 plus fee of visa category applied. The other is the On Demand Mobile Visa (ODMV) service offering door-to-door visa processing. This is the service whereby VFS takes the biometrics kit to house/hotel/office/etc. to make visa application submission really convenient. This service is ideal for corporate groups, incentive groups, cultural and sports groups and available on any working day of the week. Passports will be delivered to home or office. 

The first customer of the ODMV service was MAS Holdings Group HR Director ShakthiRanathunga whose visa application was processed including biometrics at the launch ceremony held at the Galle Face Hotel. 

The British High Commission, the UKVI and VFS Global said the launch attaches the important of Sri Lanka as a growing market for travellers to the UK. 

British High Commissioner James Dauris said last year that there has been a sharp rise in Sri Lankans travelling to the UK. Visit visas issued grew by 12% and student visas rose by 31% with the latter attributed by Dauris to the UK’s policy of inviting Sri Lanka’s “best and brightest young talent”.

“Launch of these new convenient services is a testimony that Sri Lanka is as valuable as some of the big economies which enjoy the same privilege,” the High Commissioner emphasised. 

UKVI Regional Director, South and Southeast Asia, Nick Crouch said contrary to negative perceptions, four out of five Lankans who applied for a visa in Sri Lanka last year have been successful. There had been over 20,000 UK visa applications by Sri Lankans last year. 

He said the launch of the Super Priority Visa and ODMV were significant steps forward and took the experience of a prospective visitor to the UK to a new level. “Sri Lanka is an important market for the UK,” he added. VFS Global Regional Group Chief Operating Officer – China, Middle East and South Asia Vinay Malhotra said: “The On Demand Mobile Visa service and the Super Priority Visa service are designed to bring convenience and comfort to our UK visa applicants. We are delighted to extend these services to the residents of Sri Lanka, and look forward to enhancing the visa application experience for our customers here.”

VFS Global is the world’s largest outsourcing and technology service specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide. With 2,574 application centres, operations in 137 countries and over 165 million applications processed as of end February 2018, VFS Global is the trusted partner of 58 client governments.

– Pix by Shehan Gunasekera