MEA To Streamline Visa And Passport Processes For Travellers To And From India

Planning a trip to India for NRIs and foreigners can be challenging due to numerous processes and documentation. In a bid to streamline these, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is tightening the rules for selecting partner visas and consular services for international visitors and Indians who have migrated abroad.

Additionally, one of the measures taken by the MEA to make these services seamless is mitigating predatory pricing. This is being done to improve the country’s image in terms of getting visas and passports.

How does MEA plan to smoothen visa, passport and consular services?

The Ministry’s Indian Missions are the first touchpoints for those visiting the country. This includes Indian citizens or Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and foreigners travelling to India who live overseas.

Talking about how the Ministry is looking to make the processes easier, Jyoti Mayal, President of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) stated, “The MEA has embarked on a transformational program to reform and strengthen its tendering and evaluation process in a holistic manner to select the right outsourced service providers. While the focus lies on L1 pricing, there is a strong emphasis on the four pillars of Quality Services, Sustainable and Viable Price, Data Protection and Security, and Ethical Practices and Integrity (sic),” according to ANI. The focus should be on offering cost-effective, efficient and superior services, as this forms the first impression of travellers visiting the country, she added.

Mayal said that currently, India is positioning itself as a global leader in sectors such as trade, cross-border services and citizen services. Thus, focusing on the reliability, credibility and quality of the service providers (for visa, passport and consular services) is important “to ensure services are delivered effectively, efficiently, and in line with established standards, else failure in service levels can erode confidence and trust in the government’s capabilities, leading to public dissatisfaction,” she added. The focus on quality will also ensure that “public resources are utilised wisely and that citizens get the best value for their money,” she said.