Consulate General of India
Shanghai

Indian Visa Facilitation Center opens in Shanghai

The Indian Visa Application Facilitation Center (IVAC), located at 1F, Guangdong Development Bank Tower, 555, Xujiahui Road, Shanghai was inaugurated today by Consul General of India Vishnu Prakash. It would commence operations from 6th March 2008. 

Run by VFS Global Services Pvt Ltd, the Center would entertain visa applications, from 8 AM to 3 PM daily, from residents in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu. (Holders of diplomatic/official and public affairs passports would however continue to apply directly to the Consulate General of India). In due course satellite centers would come up at Hangzhou and Nanjing in eastern China. Beijing IVAC has already been functional since January, 2008. VFS Global would eventually be operating 12 such Centers in mainland China.

VFS Global is quite experienced in handling Indian visa applications. The work has already been outsourced to them by Indian Missions in Thailand, France, UK, Sri Lanka and Australia. The organization is presently processing over six million visa applications annually, for a number of countries in its 260 plus offices worldwide.

  The inaugural function was attended by scores of journalists from the print and electronic media in eastern China, representatives of leading travel agencies and senior executives of airlines operating on the India China sector, including Air India. Speaking on the occasion, Consul General Vishnu Prakash hailed the rapid increase in bilateral exchanges and travel. Visas issued by the Consulate in Shanghai had doubled over the past two years and were poised to cross 30,000 during 2008. He called upon the travel agents to offer imaginative tour packages, to the Chinese travelers who were keen to experience various facets of Incredible India including the Buddhist heritage sites.

It would be recalled that India and China had celebrated 2007 as a “Year of Friendship through Tourism”. To boost bilateral tourism, India Tourism office will be established in Beijing soon. Additional flights between the two countries are likely to be introduced in the near future. India’s flagship carrier, Air India is also planning to commence direct flights on the New Delhi-Shanghai sector shortly.