3 July 2014
New Australia Visa Application Centre opens in Jalandhar
The Australian Government has moved to meet a growing demand in the Punjab for visas to Australia by opening a brand new Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Jalandhar, operated by its commercial partner, VFS Global.
The new centre was inaugurated by Mr Jose Alvarez, the Australian Government’s Minister Counsellor for Immigration and Regional Director (South Asia) on 3 July 2014. Mr Vishal Jairath, Regional Head- South Asia, VFS Global, was also present.
Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Mr Patrick Suckling, welcomed the new facility and said the centre would make it much more convenient for people in the region to apply for visas to Australia.
“The flow of people between India and Australia is increasing in volume, and this is deepening and strengthening the bonds between our two countries,” Mr Suckling said.
“I’m confident Australia will continue to receive increased number of business visitors, tourists, skilled migrants and students from India, which will continue to benefit our bilateral relationship,” he added.
Mr Vishal Jairath also welcomed the new facility.
“VFS Global is privileged to partner with the Government of Australia to open a new Visa Application Centre in Jalandhar. This will enhance the visa application experience of travellers to Australia from Punjab,” Mr Jairath said.
“We aim to offer high-quality, applicant-friendly services to provide a seamless visa application process to applicants here. VFS Global has been associated with the Government of Australia in India since 2007, and this extension of our association reflects their faith in our abilities to look at better ways to serve our clients. We are sure this will go a long way in forging a longstanding partnership,” he added.
For the first time in its history, the Australian High Commission in New Delhi issued more than 100,000 tourism visas to Indians in a single financial year (1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014), with numbers increasing by 10 percent in the first three months of 2014.
In addition to the Centre in Jalandhar, two new Australia VACs have recently been rolled out in Mumbai (South) and Pune recently.
Australia’s Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) and VFS Global have agreed to make the visa application process convenient for travellers from India and Nepal through 10 upgraded Australia Visa Application Centres (VACs) located in the Indian cities of Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai (North) and New Delhi, and one in Kathmandu, Nepal.
The new and upgraded VACs will offer dedicated counters for applicants and tour operators, video-conferencing facility for interviews, SMS service for tracking application status, 100% secure handling of passports, documents and personal information, professional and responsive staff with local language capability dedicated to handle visa queries and applications, and facilities for “witnessing” copies of original passports and documents, as well as other facilities.
All applications will continue to be assessed and processed by the respective missions of Australia in the region. For more information about the visa application centres, please visit http://www.vfs-au-in.com/
Jalandhar Visa Application Centre
Address: Aman Plaza, 3rd Floor, 310 Lajpat Nagar, Mahavir Marg, Jalandhar -144001
Business Hours: 0900hrs - 1700hrs | Monday - Friday (except declared holidays)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Media Contacts
Australian High Commission, New Delhi
Vartika Bassi Sethi, Media & Advocacy Officer, [email protected]
VFS Global
Bianca Nagpal, [email protected]