Mohit Rathod – Mumbai
On the heels of a recent contract between Turkey and VFS Global, VFS Global’s Turkey visa application centre has been opened at VFS Global’s new facility in Mahalaxmi, Mumbai. The Mumbai centre is part of the March 2016 agreement between Turkey and VFS Global to roll out 18 centres across India, Nepal and the Maldives. The Mumbai centre was inaugrated by Turkish Consul General in Mumbai, Erdal Sabri Ergen.
Speaking about the centre, Ergen said, “Mumbai has the highest number of visa applications across segments such as business, tourism, etc, so it is essential that we have good relations and a good agent to handle visa applications for us. VFS Global has experienced staff and offers excellent service, which is why we chose them. We will be working exclusively with VFS for visa processing, and we are confident that VFS will do a great job.”
Compared to five-six years ago, there have been 2.5 times more applications for Turkey, but the numbers in the consulate remained the same, which is attributed to the growing use of e-visa facility. Ergen informed, “We have been giving visas for around 18,000-20,000 Indians anually. Two years ago, we had started giving e-visas, which can be used by holders of valid Schengen/ USA/ UK/ Ireland visas. We had around 65,000 Indian arrivals six years ago, but now we have around 150,000 Indians coming to Turkey,” adding that Indian tourists spend 2.5 times more in Turkey than Europeans.
In order to increase its visibility in India market, Turkey plans to interact with Indian film industry, due to its influence on Indian travellers. “Leveraging on India’s fast growth and increasing disposable income of Indians, we aim to attract more Indians to visit Turkey,” stated Ergen.
Commenting on the recent Istanbul attack, Ergen said, “Unlike other airports that were attacked, our airport was back to operations in 10 hours, which is a record time. We have learned our lessons, and now we need to move ahead and make Turkey a convenient and a safe place; this is an aim that we will definitely achieve. We have a good security and are increasing it.”
The other centres in India include Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Goa, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jalandhar, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, New Delhi, Pune, Puducherry and Thiruvananthapuram; and Malé in the Maldives and Kathmandu in Nepal.
