South Africans planning to journey to India might want to comply with a brand new visa utility course of after VFS World confirmed it’s not accepting Indian visa-related purposes at its centres.
In keeping with a discover printed on the VFS web site, its visa utility centres in Johannesburg, Cape City and Durban have stopped processing:
Indian visa purposes
Passport providers
Police Clearance Certificates (PCC) purposes
Visa purposes now dealt with by Indian consulates
Candidates who require these providers should now submit their purposes on to the respective Indian Consulates in Johannesburg, Cape City or Durban, VFS World stated.
This marks a shift away from the third-party processing mannequin that many travellers have turn into accustomed to when making use of for Indian journey paperwork and providers.
Travellers are suggested to contact the related consulate straight for up to date procedures, reserving necessities and documentation tips earlier than visiting.
What about e-visas?
South African passport holders stay eligible to use for an Indian e-visa on-line by way of the official Indian authorities e-visa portal.
The e-visa choice could also be appropriate for travellers visiting India for tourism, enterprise or short-term functions, relying on eligibility necessities and visa class guidelines.
Candidates are inspired to make sure they use solely the official authorities web site when making use of for e-visas and to rigorously evaluate processing occasions and entry situations earlier than reserving journey.
What travellers ought to do subsequent
With the change now in impact, travellers planning upcoming journeys to India ought to:
Verify which visa kind they require
Verify whether or not they qualify for an e-visa
Contact the related Indian consulate for in-person purposes
Enable further time for processing
Anybody with present appointments or pending purposes via VFS is suggested to seek the advice of the official notices or contact the related authorities for steering on subsequent steps.
