Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma Inaugurates Northeast’s First Visa Centre

The Northeast on Thursday got its first visa application centre in Guwahati, with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma inaugurating the facility aimed at making international travel more convenient for people in the region.

The centre, operated by VFS Global, will process visa applications for 14 countries, including Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Malta, Morocco, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Malta visa services at the facility will be limited to D-visa applications.

Speaking at the inauguration, Sarma said the centre would fulfil a long-standing demand of people in the Northeast, who previously had to travel to Kolkata or Delhi to submit visa applications.

“Earlier, people had to travel to Kolkata or Delhi for visas, but they can now get it at this centre,” the chief minister said. Representatives of the diplomatic missions of Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Italy and France were present at the event.

Sarma said the centre would forward applications to the respective embassies for approval. Applicants would subsequently be able to collect their passports bearing the visa stamps from the Guwahati facility.

The new centre is expected to improve access to visa-related services for residents of Assam and other northeastern states, reducing the need for long-distance travel to other cities for application procedures.

Yummi Talwar, South Asia chief operating officer of VFS Global, welcomed the opening of the facility, saying it would strengthen access to visa services for people across the region.

“We are pleased to inaugurate our new visa application centre in Guwahati. It will strengthen access of people of the Northeast to visa services,” Talwar said. She also expressed gratitude to the Assam government and the partner diplomatic missions for their confidence in the organisation. Assam ministers Ajanta Neog and Charan Boro also attended the inauguration.

The opening of the centre marks a significant step towards improving access to international visa services in the Northeast, where applicants earlier had to make arrangements to travel outside the region to complete the process.