New Delhi: Applying for visa for Switzerland will become easier as Swiss visa application centres (VAC) will soon be opened in 10 more cities.
The VACs would be opened at Chandigarh, Kolkata, Cochin, Jalandhar, Chennai, Pondicherry, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Pune and Hyderabad, in addition to the existing VACs in New Delhi and Mumbai.
"Switzerland and VFS Global have partnered to open branches of Swiss Visa Application Centres (VACs) in 10 cities across India," a statement from Swiss Embassy said today. Switzerland-appointed VFS Global for outsourcing started its visa application processing services in Delhi in November 2007 and subsequently in Mumbai in August 2008.
"The opening of these VACs will strengthen our endeavours and strong will to intensify people-to-people contact through travel. 76,700 visas were issued to Indians travelling to Switzerland in the year 2011 while the figures for 2010 stand at 61,686," said Kurt Gruter, Acting Head of Visa section, Embassy of Switzerland, in the statement. The VACs would collect visa applications and, if necessary, arrange an interview with the Swiss Embassy in New Delhi or the Consulate General in Mumbai.
The partnership would be a pilot project and is limited to two years, it said.
PTI