The government of Australia has launched a new Visa Application Center (VAC) in Jalandhar, Punjab, India, to meet the increasing demand for Australian visas in the region. The new center will be operated by its commercial partner, VFS Global.
Mr. Patrick Suckling, Australia’s High Commissioner to India, said that there is a rise in number of people travelling between India and Australia resulting in strengthening ties between both the nations.
Australian high commission in New Delhi issued over 100,000 tourist visas in a single financial year from 01 July 2013 to 30 June 2014 with an increase of 10 percent during the initial three months of 2014.
Besides the newly launched VAC in Punjab, two more VACs were launched newly in Pune and Mumbai. All the newly launched VACs will manage exclusive counters for tour operators and applicants, video conferencing to conduct interviews, SMS service to give information about the status of the application, security of passports, personal information, staff with ability to speak in local language, handle queries and application forms and many other services.
