Parliament wants review of VFS Global’s visa contract
The home affairs committee criticised the department for its decision to grant VFS a two-year extension, saying it violates regulations
Parliament's home affairs portfolio committee has called on home affairs minister Siyabonga Cwele to review the department’s contract with VFS global. VFS Global manages visa application centres on behalf of the department. The appointment of VFS to act as the front-end administrative function for the department came into effect on June 20 2014. The home affairs minister at the time told the media that the appointment of VFS would help speed up functions and make the department more efficient. It also freed badly needed staff from the mundane tasks of handling forms and the collection of information. All visa and permit applications are first processed at VFS centres. These applications are then assessed by the department of home affairs in Pretoria. Applicants must now pay an additional fee to VFS, which costs up to R3,000 a person. This fee is applied in cases such as appeals which should be free, immigration lawyers said when it was introduced. Immigration experts and lawyers arg...
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