JEDDAH: In order to ensure that visa and passport processing is as convenient, fast and customer friendly as possible, the Consulate General of India, Jeddah, has decided to outsource these services to three local firms, who will start accepting passport and visa forms from Monday, said Consul General of India Sayeed Ahmad Baba here on Wednesday.
The firms who have been hired by the consulate are Al-Fifa, Al-Tayyar and VFS Global. They will charge an additional fee of SR27 each from passport applicants and SR55 each from visa aspirants over and above the prescribed fees and are expected to deliver the processed documents at outstations within 7 to 10 days of depositing the applications at their collection centers and within two days in Jeddah, Baba said.
“From Oct. 20 these agencies will start visa and passport processing services and we would like to inform the applicants to approach the outsourcing firms instead of visiting the consulate from Monday onward,” Baba said.
These outsourcing firms are located in the close vicinity of the consulate premises and further details about them may be obtained from their websites www.vfsglobal_in_sa.com; www.indiaksa.com; and www.altayyargroup.com.
The office of these outsourcing firms will remain open six days a week (closed on Fridays) from 8.30 a.m. to 8.30 p.m. They will close for a brief period for lunch. In addition, their services will be available on Thursdays and consequently no Thursday services (2 p.m. to 5 p.m.) will be available in the consulate after Oct. 20, 2008.
They will distribute visa and passport application forms, as prescribed by the consulate, free of cost. Forms can be downloaded from the website of these firms too. They will also offer assistance to applicants in filling forms and will scrutinize documents before submitting them at the consulate for the required service.
With regards to outstations where consular teams used to visit periodically for rendering consular and passport services, all the three outsourcing firms will have their collection center at these places and their addresses will be made available on their websites. However, till Dec. 31, consular teams will continue to visit these areas as per their schedule.
A “soft-launch” of the outsourcing services will be done for two days, i.e. Oct. 18-19 when the assigned firms will accept applications and process them without fee. The same work will be done in the consulate concurrently during this period, Baba said.
“It is a proud moment to announce that the Consulate General of India, Jeddah, is the first Indian mission to outsource the passport support services, in addition to visa support services,” Baba said.
Speaking about the need of the outsourcing, the consul general said that the decision is in line with the government of India’s policy to outsource visa support services.
It will also help those who come to Jeddah from far-flung areas for these purpose. Furthermore, It has been done to ease pressure on the consulate to utilize its manpower for Haj and welfare services, Baba said.
