A series of leaked European Union inspection reports has raised fresh questions about the way private outsourcing giant VFS Global handles Schengen visa applications in India. According to documents reviewed by The Indian Express and Moneycontrol, a 20-member EU delegation that visited centres in Delhi and Mumbai in early 2026 flagged problems ranging from inaccurate data entry to the alleged sale of appointment slots by staff and indirect agents. One report said some biometric data were stored on unencrypted media, potentially breaching the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
VFS Global, which services 71 governments worldwide and processes millions of Indian applications each year, denied systemic failings and insisted it is “subject to rigorous and continuous oversight.”
![EU Inspection Puts VFS Global’s India Visa Centres Under Spotlight]()
For individual travellers and corporate mobility teams seeking an alternative route to up-to-date visa guidance, platforms such as VisaHQ offer consolidated checklists, document pre-screening and live status tracking across multiple Schengen missions. VisaHQ’s India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) allows users to compare processing times, book courier pick-ups and receive alerts the moment consular rules change—features that can reduce reliance on opaque walk-in agents and help organisations maintain compliance with GDPR-like data-handling benchmarks.
In a written statement, the company argued that appointment volumes, pricing of value-added services and data-retention rules are set by client embassies, not the vendor. Nevertheless, EU officials have recommended that Member States tighten contractual clauses on data security and conduct surprise audits every six months. For corporates that rely on rapid Schengen issuance—particularly in the IT and pharmaceutical sectors—any slowdown or additional compliance layer at VFS counters could translate into missed project kick-offs and penalty clauses. Travel managers are therefore advising employees to lodge applications at least five weeks before departure and to budget for premium lounge fees only when absolutely necessary. Some large companies are exploring group-appointment blocks negotiated directly with EU missions to bypass third-party scheduling platforms. The controversy also re-ignites debate over India’s heavy reliance on outsourced visa services. The Foreign Secretary told reporters last month that New Delhi would push partner governments to restore in-house processing for categories with “strategic business importance”, hinting at a possible pilot with Germany and France later this year. Until any structural change materialises, applicants have limited choice but to work within the VFS ecosystem—making it imperative for HR teams to educate travellers on avoiding unofficial agents, safeguarding personal data and insisting on official receipts for every rupee spent.
VFS Global, which services 71 governments worldwide and processes millions of Indian applications each year, denied systemic failings and insisted it is “subject to rigorous and continuous oversight.”
For individual travellers and corporate mobility teams seeking an alternative route to up-to-date visa guidance, platforms such as VisaHQ offer consolidated checklists, document pre-screening and live status tracking across multiple Schengen missions. VisaHQ’s India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) allows users to compare processing times, book courier pick-ups and receive alerts the moment consular rules change—features that can reduce reliance on opaque walk-in agents and help organisations maintain compliance with GDPR-like data-handling benchmarks.
In a written statement, the company argued that appointment volumes, pricing of value-added services and data-retention rules are set by client embassies, not the vendor. Nevertheless, EU officials have recommended that Member States tighten contractual clauses on data security and conduct surprise audits every six months. For corporates that rely on rapid Schengen issuance—particularly in the IT and pharmaceutical sectors—any slowdown or additional compliance layer at VFS counters could translate into missed project kick-offs and penalty clauses. Travel managers are therefore advising employees to lodge applications at least five weeks before departure and to budget for premium lounge fees only when absolutely necessary. Some large companies are exploring group-appointment blocks negotiated directly with EU missions to bypass third-party scheduling platforms. The controversy also re-ignites debate over India’s heavy reliance on outsourced visa services. The Foreign Secretary told reporters last month that New Delhi would push partner governments to restore in-house processing for categories with “strategic business importance”, hinting at a possible pilot with Germany and France later this year. Until any structural change materialises, applicants have limited choice but to work within the VFS ecosystem—making it imperative for HR teams to educate travellers on avoiding unofficial agents, safeguarding personal data and insisting on official receipts for every rupee spent.
