The Consulate General of India (CGI) in Jeddah has introduced the long-awaited outsourcing of visa support services for foreign nationals entering India and passport support services for Indian expatriates from Oct. 20, according to Consul General Sayeed Ahmed Baba. Baba told a press conference at the consulate here on Wednesday evening that the CGI is the first in the Mideast region to introduce such services within the framework of the approved policy of the Government of India. He said that initially the service was to be offered from August 16 but was postponed so as to be able to complete the work of the upgradation of the software at the CGI and the acquiring and installing of the requisite matching software by the outsourcing firms. He added that agreements have been signed with three agencies – Al-Fifa, Al-Tayyar, and VFS Global as outsourcing agencies. There will be a soft launch for two days on Saturday and Sunday when the applicants will not be charged any fee. After that these firms will charge SR27 each from passport applicants and SR55 from visa applicants besides the prescribed Government of India fees. The outsourcing firms will accept applications throughout their working hours. Moreover, their services will be available on all Thursdays and consequently no Thursday services (1400 to 1700 hours) will be available in the CGI from Oct. 20. The firms will only process the data; the screening, checking, etc. will be done at the CGI. He said that outsourcing will be beneficial mainly for those outside Jeddah, as they will not have to come to the CGI. It will save them time and money as the firms will have their collection centers in such places as Abha, Khamis Mushayt, and Yanbu. The outsourcing firms are expected to deliver the processed documents to Jeddah within two days, and at the outstations within seven to ten days of depositing the applications at their collection centers. Baba said that till December CGI teams will visit these centers to monitor the work of the firms. He added that outsourcing will reduce public expenditure of the CGI and also the staff, which will be redeployed. He said that last year, the CGI handled about 50,000 passport, and 8,470 visa applications. He said that the Indian ministry of external affairs has decided to outsource the passport work within the country, for which it signed an agreement with Tata Consultancy Services on Monday. To begin with, a pilot project in Chandigarh and Bangalore will be initiated for about eight months, become functional by June 2009 and undergo three months testing. The entire scheme will be in force by January 2010 with the opening of 77 new offices across the country. The prescribed fee for each transaction in India is fixed at Rs 200 and the outsourcing centers will be known as ‘Passport Seva Kendra' – the passport project being one of the 27 Mission Mode Projects listed in the National e-governance Plan. __
