KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 ― The government has agreed to allow a visa processing centre to operate under the current Covid-19 containment curbs, after many Malaysians who received offers to study and work abroad found themselves in a pickle.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the National Security Council is allowing the VFS Visa Application Centre to resume operations under the Phase One of the National Recovery Plan (NRP).
However, he said the centre is subject to the standard operating procedures (SOP), which includes limiting the number of people inside the premises.
“I understand many Malaysian students are facing issues obtaining UK Visas as the Visa App. Centre is closed. @MalaysiaMFA worked closely with @MKNJPM and due to high demand, VFS has been approved to operate at 50% capacity to prevent crowding, in-line with SOPs under NRP Phase 1,” the senior minister posted on Twitter today.
VFS (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd is a subsidiary of VFS Global, one of the world’s largest visa outsourcing and technology services specialists for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide.
The company manages the administrative and non-judgmental tasks related to visa, passport and consular services for its client governments.
Last month, a group of Malaysian students and workers calling itself Advocacy Alliance for Affected VFS Visa Applicants appealed to the government to classify visa processing as an essential service, following the “closure” of the centre managed by VFS (Malaysia).
The group said the prolonged closure of VFS will be a catastrophe as the mounting backlogs might cause undesirable delays for applicants to receive their visa approvals on time.
