I thoroughly enjoyed the event itself, both the content
and the opportunity to network with colleagues. I spent
an enjoyable and equally interesting rest of the trip
visiting the Visa Application Centres in Dubai and Abu
Dhabi, and visiting our visa section. It has given me a lot
to think about.
Adrian Dottridge
Director, Strategy and Change,
UK Visas & Immigration
I would like to congratulate VFS Global for the
successful IConnect 2016 and to thank you warmly,
once again, for your great and remarkable hospitality
in Dubai. I was truly honored during those two days to
represent my country France and to talk on behalf of
Philippe Righini and the French visa network. I really
appreciated the opportunity to present our current visa
activity and our next projects. I believe it was useful for
the participants to have the thoughts and views of the
French MOFA. I found particularly smart and timely to
call such a workshop between like-minded states and
partners at this particular moment where cost-saving,
attractiveness and security are at stake. In such a
context, outsourcing is not an option anymore and VFS
Global has clearly paved the way towards great and
impressive solutions.
Jean-Christophe Paris
Head of Unit - Visa Policy Division, French Ministry for
Foreign Affairs and International Development
Some comments from our guest speakers
The Consulate General of Finland in St. Petersburg
was the single largest Schengen visa issuing post
in the world that managed in excess of 1 million visa
applications annually from a single location. The growing
number of applications that averaged approximately 25%
every year posed significant challenges and stretched
the available resources.
The Consular Services in the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MFA) for Finland began to resolutely look at
alternative ways of processing visa applications while
ensuring sustainability in the long run. The vision was
essentially to collect anywhere and process anywhere,
with greater efficiency. Two aspects, which were also of
great importance was the transition to a more paperless
environment and to manage processes in a way that
ensured future readiness.
As a solution, the MFA of Finland worked with
VFS Global to develop the cutting-edge ELVIS
(Electronic Visa Application Processing) - a Location
IndependentDocument Processing solution (LIDPro™)
that enabled digitalisation of the entire visa application
process and created a workflow management tool
that could be used across multiple locations and
geographies. The system is currently operational across
the Consular Posts in Russia, Ukraine and at a Remote
Visa Processing Centre in Kouvola, Finland. Currently
over 90% of the overall visa applications received
globally are successfully handled through *LIDPro™.
Lauri Aaltonen
Ambassador, CDO, Internal and External Services,
Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland
It was a great opportunity to meet a lot of colleagues and to see a much broader range of options to support service
delivery - all incredibly valuable. I am sure our paths will cross again.
Ms Christine Dacey
First Assistant Secretary - Visa and Citizenship Management Division, Department of Immigration and
Border Protection
05
A panel discussion being moderated by Mr Peter Brun, Chief Communications Officer, VFS Global
GLOBAL
