‘Visa centre service essential to us’

TRAVEL visa applicants have been going through challenges at every turn since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many workers and students who need to travel to the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and other countries, rely on VFS (M) Sdn Bhd visa application centre in Kuala Lumpur — an outsourcing specialist company for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide.

Since the Phase One of the National Recovery Plan was implemented on June 1, however, visa applications to eight countries have not been processed as the service is not deemed to be essential by the National Security Council.

A group of applicants, known as the Alliance for Affected VFS Visa Applicants, have banded together to counsel and support one another.

After over a month of waiting, UK visa applicants can now heave a sigh of relief with the application process set to resume on July 12.

VFS Global announced on Thursday via its social media accounts that it would begin a phased resumption of services.

“All other visa application centres remain closed due to the ongoing (Phase One of the National Recovery Plan) directives from the government,” it said.

An Alliance for Affected VFS Visa Applicants spokesperson, who wished to be known only as Simon, said many people in the group were surprised and happy to learn that there was finally some movement in the process.

“Many of us had hoped for VFS to reopen after June 28 but were disheartened when it didn’t,” said Simon, who is travelling to the UK for his postgraduate studies in September.

As most universities in the UK typically start their semester in September or October, thousands of students are affected by the prolonged closure and resulting backlog.

Simon said the alliance did not know why only UK applications had been given the green light while others were not, but at least now those who needed to go to the UK could get their visa appointments.

PK Woon, 28, who is a student applying for a Canadian visa, is frustrated that only UK visa applicants can proceed.

After taking four months to get his visa approved, he is at the final step before obtaining the visa for his postgraduate course.

“It is just a matter of us sending our passports over to VFS Malaysia which will be forwarded to the embassy in Singapore to be affixed,” he said.

Woon said he started the process for his application in March before finally receiving the original passport request letter from the Canadian government, which comes with a 30-day deadline.

“In my opinion, this visa processing service is an essential service and should be allowed to operate.

“Like many others, I am stuck at the final stage, which is such a simple process. All this frustration is affecting our mental health.

“We just don’t understand why only partial services is resumed,” he added.

One of the supporters of a petition launched by the alliance, agreed that it was an essential service as people who needed to study or work abroad needed to apply for their visa here and there was a deadline to meet.

“We have post-graduates who have been offered to study in prestigious universities in the UK and some have successfully secured good job offers,” added the supporter who signed the petition.

Facebook user Gianne Yap said in a comment: “I’ve gotten a new job recently. It’s project-based (time-sensitive) and hinges on whether I can obtain a work visa or not.”

Simon noted that there had been many stories of those who had to defer their studies from last year because of visa issues and each day, more people were reaching out to share their experiences.

“We will continue to advocate for those who need a visa for work or study abroad but are unable to get one.

“There are a lot of people planning to get to their destination but what is stopping them is VFS not being open,” he added.