Hot on the heels of the United Kingdom’s move to all-digital immigration permission, outsourcing giant VFS Global has confirmed it is helping UK Visas & Immigration embed the new eVisa process across more than 140 visa-application centres. Speaking to ET TravelWorld, chief operating officer Srinarayan Sankaran said the partnership allows applicants to keep hold of their passports after a single biometric visit and apply for other countries’ visas concurrently—a long-requested convenience for corporate road-warriors who juggle multiple trips(travel.economictimes.indiatimes.com).
Under the new workflow applicants book an appointment, provide fingerprints and a facial image, and leave with their passport in hand. Once the Home Office issues a decision, instructions for accessing the eVisa arrive by e-mail and appear in the applicant’s UKVI account. VFS Global staff have been trained to walk travellers through the share-code process so that airlines and future employers can verify status online.
Travellers who prefer a more concierge-style experience can also turn to independent specialists such as VisaHQ, which offers UK eVisa application help, document checks and real-time status tracking through its London office and online platform (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/). The service can be a practical option for mobility teams that lack in-house immigration expertise or for individuals facing tight deadlines.
![VFS Global Joins UKVI to Roll Out eVisa Platform Worldwide]()
The company reports that more than 10 million people worldwide already hold a UK eVisa or digital status, and volumes are expected to spike as legacy categories—such as Biometric Residence Permits—are switched off later this year. To cope, VFS has added extra after-hours appointments in high-volume cities such as New Delhi, Lagos and Beijing, and rolled out live-chat support for applicants struggling to link new passports to existing eVisas.
For mobility programmes the operational benefits are significant:
• No passport retention means fewer disrupted trips for senior executives.
• Simultaneous multi-country visa filing can shorten global assignment lead-times.
• Courier risks and costs fall sharply because decision letters are electronic.
Sankaran also hinted that VFS is piloting a “digital visa wallet” that could store multiple countries’ permissions in a single app—an early sign that UK eVisas may yet spark wider industry innovation. Until then, employers should update travel checklists to ensure new hires generate share codes before day-one right-to-work checks and before any business trip that includes a UK leg.
Under the new workflow applicants book an appointment, provide fingerprints and a facial image, and leave with their passport in hand. Once the Home Office issues a decision, instructions for accessing the eVisa arrive by e-mail and appear in the applicant’s UKVI account. VFS Global staff have been trained to walk travellers through the share-code process so that airlines and future employers can verify status online.
Travellers who prefer a more concierge-style experience can also turn to independent specialists such as VisaHQ, which offers UK eVisa application help, document checks and real-time status tracking through its London office and online platform (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/). The service can be a practical option for mobility teams that lack in-house immigration expertise or for individuals facing tight deadlines.
The company reports that more than 10 million people worldwide already hold a UK eVisa or digital status, and volumes are expected to spike as legacy categories—such as Biometric Residence Permits—are switched off later this year. To cope, VFS has added extra after-hours appointments in high-volume cities such as New Delhi, Lagos and Beijing, and rolled out live-chat support for applicants struggling to link new passports to existing eVisas.
For mobility programmes the operational benefits are significant:
• No passport retention means fewer disrupted trips for senior executives.
• Simultaneous multi-country visa filing can shorten global assignment lead-times.
• Courier risks and costs fall sharply because decision letters are electronic.
Sankaran also hinted that VFS is piloting a “digital visa wallet” that could store multiple countries’ permissions in a single app—an early sign that UK eVisas may yet spark wider industry innovation. Until then, employers should update travel checklists to ensure new hires generate share codes before day-one right-to-work checks and before any business trip that includes a UK leg.
