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A couple could not get an appointment for a business visa to Germany despite several attempts. They had to travel all the way from Pune to Hyderabad last month
A senior educationist from the city failed to get an appointment for himself and his wife for a Switzerland visa despite multiple attempts. His messages on his X-handle and mails to the authorities concerned have failed to yield any results, so far
Visa appointments in the city have been hard to come by over the past month, thanks to too few slots and technical glitches on the facilitator’s site. Several applicants claimed that they could not move beyond the payment page of the VFS Global Appointment Management System site. Naturally, they did not get slots despite several attempts. Another set of people were tired of trying their luck for an appointment on a suitable date. In the absence of slots, a couple went to Hyderabad to complete their visa formalities.
This extensive agreement, spanning Australian biometric collection centres (ABCC), covers 165 locations worldwide, including both new and existing VFS Global-operated sites. The contract encompasses seven regions: the Americas, Mekong, Middle East and North Africa, North Asia, Pacific, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. In addition, this agreement marks the inaugural opening of Australian biometric collection centers (ABCC) by VFS Global in the Americas region.
VFS Global is the facilitator for visas of several countries. “From mid-July, I have been trying to get a visa appointment for our scheduled trip to Germany. When I failed to get an appointment in my hometown, I booked a slot in Hyderabad for my wife and myself,” said Piyush Aggarwal, a software engineer.”We travelled to Hyderabad on August 15, spending a bomb on flight tickets. But fortunately, we could complete the formalities on August 16 and return to the city at night,” his wife, Priyanka, said.
Bhushan Patwardhan, the India lead of the WHO global centre for traditional medicine laboratory in Jamnagar, is slated to visit Geneva next month for an important meeting. He failed to book a slot for Switzerland visas despite trying several times over the past few days.
“I have been trying to book slots for visa formalities of my wife and myself for our Geneva visit, but in vain. It is frustrating to fill up the same credentials over and over again. Each time, I could not go beyond the payment page of the site,” he told TOI.
Gujaratis planning to travel to Europe for Diwali holidays are facing uncertainty and delays in getting Schengen visa appointments. Travel operators estimate that those who have already made bookings are paying up to INR 10,000 per person for expedited visa services. Some travelers are considering changing their destination or paying extra for doorstep visa services.
He wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) handle about the issue, tagging the visa facilitator. But there was no assistance till Friday evening.
A VFS Global spokesperson told TOI, “The VFS Global Appointment Management System for Swiss visa applicants from India is working normally. We have multiple security measures implemented on the website to prevent misuse and excessive hits. As a result, users trying to access multiple times may get blocked.”
“As per our standard operating procedure and adherence to the directives of the embassies and consulates we work with, system downtimes are always communicated to applicants in advance on the website. We urge applicants facing issues while booking the appointment to reach out to our call centre,” the spokesperson added.
However, calls to the call centre of the facilitator revealed the flip side of artificial intelligence. “The chatbots or automated respondents were not intelligent enough to understand my queries,” Patwardhan said.
A software tester, on the guarantee of anonymity, said, “Some pages of VFS Global Appointment Management System’s site seem to have some bugs. They should be checked thoroughly.”
Contradicting the claim of VFS Global’s spokesperson, Nilesh Bhansali, the director of Devam Tours and Travels Private Limited and the director of Travel Agents’ Association of Pune (TAAP), said visa issues had been there for more than a month now. “Many people aren’t getting appointments on time for different consulates. We are getting no support either,” he said.
Santosh Gupta, the owner of Shree Vinayak Holidays, said, “Visa appointments have been a big problem for months now. A more professional approach is needed from VFS Global so that travellers don’t face hassles.”
A representative from the city-based Sudhanshu Travels said on Thursday they could not get an appointment for a client’s Switzerland visa. “The website of VFS Global did not function properly and we could not make the payment. Hence, the slot was not given.”
Devadutta Utgi, who is into telecom manufacturing business, had a piece of advice for visa applicants. “Be patient. The waiting time is generally long for Schengen visas.”
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