Information Security is a business-critical function at VFS Global

Zubin Karkaria, CEO, VFS Global Group

For Zubin Jal Karkaria it was a mix of destiny, a lot of hard work and the ability to foresee the market needs that led him to conceptualise and execute a proof-of-concept project for the US Embassy in 2001 to outsource the non-judgmental and administrative part of the visa process. Twenty-one years later, the company VFS Global serves 63 client governments across 143 countries. Coming from a middle-class Parsi family of priests in Mumbai, Zubin has travelled a long way to success, creating the world’s largest outsourcing and technology services company for governments and diplomatic missions.

Joining Kuoni in 1991, Zubin handled several managerial roles before he was appointed as the CEO and Managing Director of Kuoni India and South Asia in 2005 – managing the Outbound and Domestic tours division, the Business Travel division, and the Inbound Travel division, and simultaneously growing the VFS Global business. He was made a member of the Kuoni Group Executive Board in 2013, and in 2015 he became the first Asian to be appointed as the CEO of Kuoni Group, which was later split to create a stand-alone business.

In an interaction with Shubhendu Parth, he shares what went into the making of VFS, its new initiatives, the focus on digital technologies and the Asia business. Excerpts:

It is well documented how you started VFS Global in 2001 after convincing the US government about a pilot project for Indian visa applicants at its Mumbai embassy. What made you and Kuoni push for this pilot? Were you exploring a new revenue stream?

Being part of one of the world’s leading travel companies, we had first-hand knowledge of the challenges faced by travellers faced in getting visas and that of the embassies. With international travel booming in a globalised world, we could also foresee the need for a dedicated and specialised service for governments and visa customers worldwide. This prompted us to conceptualise a unique but straightforward solution. Our focus was not on exploring a new revenue stream but on addressing a more significant problem with visa application processes back in time. For me, the most significant takeaway of this journey is how this disruptive innovation revolutionised the visa application process.

What exactly does VFS Global do in the chain of visa process? Please elaborate on the tasks that the company handles to free the visa officers for decision making and how it has transformed the business.

In a nutshell, we handle almost the entire non-judgmental and administrative part of the process – starting from accepting the visa application to returning the passport to the visa applicant post the decision-making process by the embassy or consulate.  In between, we add a vast array of services to enhance the overall experience for the visa applicant and make the process efficient and secure for the client government.  Our core functionality includes appointment booking, form checking, data entry, fee collection, biometric enrolment, forwarding documents to the concerned embassy and consulate, courier passback of documents to the visa applicants. There has, of course, been a huge transformation in the visa application process, which has primarily been driven by VFS Global.

For visa applicants, the big changes have been the exponential increase in visa submission points – often from just two or three locations in a country to 10-20.  Submission timings that were highly restricted to 2-3 hours per day in the pre-VFS days have now increased substantially to 6-8 hours daily.  Our well situated, spacious and comfortable Visa Application Centres (VACs) with all modern amenities and the introduction of an appointment system have played a pivotal role in the transformation process, adding immensely to applicant convenience and comfort.  In the pre-VFS days, applicants had to queue up – often for several hours – before the embassy and consulate visa office opened to try and ensure they had the opportunity to submit their application of that day as the slots were limited.

The transformational advantages we offered for client governments were the ability to ramp up visa application processing volume multifold without any additional office space or additional staff cost for client governments.  We have introduced innovative and advanced solutions such as LIDProTM – which enables remote processing and assessment of visa applications by client governments – and mobile biometric solutions, which allow client governments to offer temporary visa application submission points in smaller cities where there is no full-time Visa Application Centre.

We pioneered the concept of Joint VACs – VACs shared by multiple client governments – which enabled us to increase visa submission points significantly for the benefit of customers in an efficient and secure manner. Since our inception, VFS Global has processed more than 236 Million visa applications since 2001 and over 104 Million biometric enrolments since 2007.

What is the size of the global outsourced visa application market, and where does VFS Global stand vis-a-vis competition?

In 2019, the total visa market was around $170 Million, of which only 32% were outsourced, which still offers good growth potential. VFS Global is the clear market leader with over 18% of the total visa market share and the most trusted and preferred service provider by governments worldwide.

What steps has VFS Global taken during the last 20 years to change the customer experience? Besides enhancing the applicant or customer experience, we have pioneered some innovative and sophisticated services such as Premium Lounge, which offers a convenient experience within the Visa Application Centre and Visa at Your Doorstep. This personalised service enables people to submit their visa application from the comfort, convenience and safety of their home or office. Of course, our extensive network of Visa Application Centres has also allowed us to transform the customer experience.

We have always believed in leveraging technology to develop innovative services and solutions to enhance customer experience. The introduction of biometric enrolment capabilities was the real game-changer for us. It played a significant role in improving the overall security of the visa application process and led to the evolution of new-age VACs. The growing demand for DIY (do it yourself) technologies led to us introducing the electronic mode of visa or eVisa services.

VFS Global has also been exploring newer consular and documentation services. Since the outsourced visa application market is yet to be fully exploited, what was the need?

The answer to that question lies in our core value of entrepreneurship. We invest time, energy, and resources in continuously scouting for new business opportunities. According to the Diaspora Alliance, the diaspora population has tripled in just five decades, from approximately 75 Million to over 230 Million.

While visa application processing remains our core business, the growing demand for passport services globally led to expanding our passport and consular services portfolio. This portfolio has grown seamlessly because we could easily replicate our unique value proposition in this domain. Our trusted partnership with 11 governments – Austria, Bulgaria, Ghana, India, Italy, Lithuania, Morocco, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Portugal, and the United Kingdom – is a testament.

How has VFS Global evolved on the digital path with everything moving to online and mobile platforms?

Traditionally, the visa application process has been largely paper-based, mostly involving physical interaction such as document check and submission, payment, and biometric enrolment at VACs. Our appointment management system – AMS allows customers to find their preferred VAC, visiting time, and services.

Listening to our customers, we have worked towards reducing the interaction time in our physical touchpoints by offering digital document checks ahead of the visa submission or providing our services remotely altogether with our highly popular Visa At Your Doorstep  service. By enabling a customer to book the entire visa application process, including biometric enrolment at a location of their choice, the service has observed a 3x increase in demand since 2020, a trend we expect to grow with travellers prioritising safe travel in the future.

Similarly, Location Independent Document Processing – LIDPro enables governments to process visas from a remote location, sometimes from another country altogether, saving significant time and resources for the local diplomatic mission to make a visa decision. This was another important milestone in our digital transformation.

Technology facilitates the management of large application volumes by removing the requirement for government resources being physically present in source countries with high application volumes, effectively transforming the visa application process into an almost entirely digital one while still maintaining the security and integrity of the process.

VFS Global has also partnered with tourism promotion boards to promote destinations. How much is the company focusing on this business?

As a key stakeholder of the global travel ecosystem, we have been at the forefront of encouraging trade and tourism and contributing to global mobility. Our collaboration with tourism boards is a part of this long-term commitment. More than revenues, we look at it as an opportunity to support our client governments and contribute towards the economic and social development goals in those destinations.

In terms of VFS Global’s business in Asia, how many countries are you present in, and what has been the company’s experience of doing business in the region?   

Asia, as a continent, has accounted for a significant share of revenue flows over the last few years and is expected to remain one of the key source markets for VFS Global. We have 1851 application centres in 43 Asian countries serving 57 client governments.

We are also a trusted partner of 16 Asian client governments; our partnership with some of them spans over a decade, such as the Republic of Singapore, India, and the People’s Republic of China. We have been serving UAE for almost two decades. The importance of Asia for VFS Global is also endorsed by the fact that our Global Head Office is based in UAE, whereas our Global Support Office is based in India.

The company has faced some major data breach issues in the past. What has been the learning, and what is VFS Global doing to ensure data security in this hyper-connected digital world?

VFS Global serves 63 client governments in 143 countries and must comply with various data localisation, privacy, and protection laws, including GDPR. Although the pandemic escalated data security risks in a world working remotely, VFS Global deployed numerous cutting-edge security solutions against potential cyber threats. Most importantly, data security is fully embedded within the design and functioning of our processes. A case in point is the continuation of the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification that demonstrates a high level of assurance throughout our information security processes.

Handling personal data is central to VFS Global. Therefore, there are no compromises in this area. We place great importance on continuous improvement to the cybersecurity framework. We invest Millions of dollars every year in this area. Having already demonstrated our robust Defense in Depth strategy, we are currently implementing a project to improve cyber-maturity. This includes new cybersecurity technologies at the endpoint level and implementing advanced PII Discovery and Compliance tools to ensure data stays protected throughout its lifecycle. The project also involves enhancing Cyber Incident Response Plan and tabletop exercises to ensure a well-rehearsed response to any cybersecurity incident.

Data Protection and Information Security are two separate business-critical functions at VFS Global. Over the years, we have invested significant resources in building these functions with very robust systems and controls. We are strongly committed to maintaining the highest levels of cyber security.

So, where is VFS Global headed in the next five years?

The coming five years will witness renewed growth impetus at VFS Global. We believe that the worst of the pandemic is behind us and that the general recovery trend will only strengthen, albeit with some volatility. Going ahead, our focus will be on further strengthening and consolidating our position in our core business of outsourced visa services while simultaneously focusing on diversification opportunities in high growth potential businesses such as outsourced Passport services and eVisa services. We also see more governments integrating biometric enrollment in their visa application process to further increase the security of the process. We are ready to support them with multiple biometric solutions to meet their requirements.

With our underlying goal to make cross-border mobility more seamless, we aspire to create deep brand affection amongst our customers, colleagues, investors, and communities whilst developing our business and enhancing shareholder value in a sustainable and secure manner. We are convinced that the mid-to-long-term outlook for VFS Global remains positive.

Zubin Karkaria is the CEO of VFS Global Group
Zubin Karkaria, CEO, VFS Global Group.