Switzerland to open more Visa Application Centers in India
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First two phases to open seven centres by March, while three centres to launch in mid-2012… 
Switzerland yesterday announced to open 10 more regional Visa Application Centres (VACs) across India. The new centres are proposed to open in three phases in partnership with VFS Global. The first two phases will be completed in March 2012 with branches opening in Chandigarh, Kolkata, Jalandhar, Kochi, Chennai, Pondicherry and Bengaluru. The third phase will be concluded by mid-2012 with three more application centres in Ahmedabad, Pune and Hyderabad.
Announcing the opening of the visa centres, Kurt Gruter, Acting Head of Visa Section at Embassy of Switzerland said, “The opening of these VACs will only strengthen our endeavours and strong will to intensify people to people contact through travel. We issued 76,700 visa to Indians travelling to Switzerland in 2011, while the figures for 2010 stand at 61,686.”
VFS Global’s COO for South Asia and CIS, Murali Raghavan said, “Applicants and travel agents in India can now apply at VFS Global’s convenient and comfortable Visa Applications Centres across 10 additional locations apart from the existing centres in Mumbai and New Delhi.”
Switzerland appointed VFS Global for outsourcing its visa application processing services in New Delhi in November 2007 and subsequently in August 2008 in Mumbai.
