Belgium opens first visa application centre in Ahmedabad

Belgium becomes the eighth European country to open a visa application centre in Ahmedabad. Also, another 10 countries, including Germany, France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Hungary, may set up shop soon.With the opening of the Belgian visa application centre on Monday, Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) Global, the outsourcing and technology services specialist for diplomatic missions and governments, extended its visa application services for Belgium to Ahmedabad. Of the 26 European Union (EU) countries, 16 have outsourced visa application services to VFS. And, out of the 16, VFS has already started services for Belgium, Austria, Greece, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.

“Now, we hope to see the launch of services for the remaining 10 in the near future. For the citizens of Ahmedabad, visiting EU countries has become easier as their visa application centres have been opened here," said Vishal Jairath, regional head, South Asia, VFS Global.The application centre would remain open between 8 am and 4.30 pm from Monday to Friday.Karl van den Bossche, the consul-general of Belgium in Mumbai, inaugurated the new centre on Ashram Road. During the launch, Bossche said of the total number of applications received from western and southern India by the Belgian consulate, 15 per cent were from Gujarat. “In 2012, we received 34,000 applications from western and southern part of India, including 5,000 from Gujarat alone," he added.

At present, the trade between India and Belgium is around 13 billion euros around Rs95,500 crore. “In fact, a few thousand Gujaratis have made Belgium, Antwerp, to be specific, their home," said Bossche.When asked about the ties between Belgium and chief minister Narendra Modi, Bossche said Belgium was willing to interact with him.  Come November, a business delegation, led by Prince Philippe, the crown prince of Belgium, would be visiting New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. If companies have more than 15 percent of their U.S.-based workforce on those visas, according to a draft bill now before the Senate, then workers on those visas won't be allowed to work for clients in the States, Infosys Chief Financial Officer Rajiv Bansal said at a recent conference organized by Sanford C. Bernstein.