Australia-UK VAC to boost customer services for visa applicants

The United Kingdom and Australia have set up a new joint Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Dhaka to make getting visas easy for Bangladeshis want to go to the two countries. After the formal inauguration of the Joint Visa Application Centre (VAC) in the city, Australia and the UK have termed it as a move to further highlight the collaboration with Bangladesh. Both countries also announced that they have renewed their partnership with VFS Global to provide visa application centre services in Bangladesh and across South Asia on their behalf. The new Dhaka VAC, located in the Delta Tower Building, Road 90, Gulshan 2, has been designed to ensure further enhancement of the already excellent customer services for visa applicants in Dhaka, a British High Commissioner release has said. The UK will also be opening a new VAC with similar upgraded facilities in Sylhet in the coming weeks. After opening the new joint Dhaka VAC, British High Commissioner Robert W Gibson said, “I’m delighted to be here to open our new visa application centre in Bangladesh along with our partners the Australian High Commission. On average we receive over 30 thousand UK visa applications each year, which just shows how important Bangladesh is to Britain.” He said the relationship between Bangladesh and the UK is strong and this visa application centre is clear evidence of UK’s investment in Bangladesh to provide an efficient and cost effective service to UK visa applicants. Australian Regional Director, South Asia, Jose Alvarez, said, “Australia was looking forward to continuing its longstanding working relationship with the UK Visa and Immigration Service. These arrangements allow Australia and the UK to build our immigration cooperation further and demonstrate the value we place on collaboration between our countries. This joint VAC reflects the Australian government’s commitment to provide high standards of visa services to our clients,” according to a news agency.