It is no longer necessary for residents of the Northeast to travel outside of the area in order to apply for a visa. In order to assist applicants from all eight states in the region, VFS Global inaugurated its first Visa Application Center in Guwahati on Thursday.

The centre sits at the Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) and covers 3,200 square feet. It will take applications from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim.

Countries covered

Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Malta, Morocco, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom are among the countries to which applicants may apply for visas. For Malta, the centre handles only the D-Visa, which is the long-stay category.

Who opened it

Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam, opened the facility. Tourism Minister Ajanta Neog, Transport Minister Charan Boro and Yummi Talwar, VFS Global’s Chief Operating Officer for South Asia, joined him. Additionally present were representatives from the diplomatic missions of France, Italy, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic.

Why it matters for the region

Until now, many applicants from the Northeast have had to travel to other parts of India to submit documents for study, work, business or holiday visas. That means spending on train or flight tickets, hotels and extra days away from home. A centre in Guwahati is expected to cut down on that time and expense.

Talwar said the company was happy to open the centre and wanted to make visa services easier to reach for people in Assam and the wider Northeast. She added that VFS Global would focus on secure, technology-led processes to make applying more convenient.

About VFS Global’s network

The Guwahati centre is the company’s third in eastern India. Globally, VFS Global runs more than 4,300 application centres in 170 countries on behalf of 71 governments.

Get clear, up-to-date guidance on visa centres, documents and application steps with Visabud.