International travel is booming following the Covid-19 pandemic. At TLScontact, we’re ready not only to support governments in managing the explosion in visa administration – we’re also making it easier than ever for people to apply for visas.
According to UN Tourism, international tourism in 2024 reached 96% of 2019 levels by the end of July, with the World Tourism Barometer showing 790-million arrivals; this is also 11% higher than all of 2023.
“Results are in line with UN Tourism’s projection of a full recovery in international arrivals in 2024 despite ongoing economic and geopolitical risks,” says UN Tourism.
In this context of high demand for visas, the benefits for governments of outsourcing the administrative aspects of the process to companies like TLScontact are clearer than ever.
A vital part of what we do is to make the process as smooth, convenient and accessible as possible for visa applicants: we take visa services to them. In this regard, we’re pioneering several innovations:
- Temporary enrolment locations (TELs): in agreement with our government clients, we set up these temporary visa application centres in locations other than capital cities. TELs are run in the same places at regular intervals for a few days a month, making it much easier and cheaper for people in outlying areas to access visa services.
For example, our service to the French government for visa applicants in Gabon includes a permanent visa application centre in Libreville, but for a few days a month we also operate TELs in Port-Gentil and Franceville
- Emergency visa centres: we can also set up emergency visa centres within 48 hours in the event of a crisis; such facilities are typically operated for less than a year, depending on circumstances.
For example, we set up an emergency visa centre for the UK in Rzeszow, Poland, following the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022, in order to process the sudden spike in visa applications from Ukrainian refugees.
- Mobile biometric enrolment: this is our “Apply Anywhere” service that goes to where applicants are. We can offer this on an “on demand” basis and in certain countries, we advertise in advance that we will be offering “biometric clinics” in specific locations. This service is particularly suited for groups of people (sports or company teams, for instance) and high-net-worth individuals.
Examples of this include our Apply Anywhere offerings in Indonesia and Cambodia
- Self-service biometric kiosks: until now, visa applicants have had to submit their biometric data under close staff supervision. This exciting development allows them to submit their biometrics themselves in just a few clicks, in an intuitive, automated setting.
While this new offering is automated, there are always staff members on hand to assist applicants with any queries they may have.
We’ve installed biometric kiosks at visa and citizenship application centres in the UK, making visa extension and change, residence and citizenship applications substantially quicker and simpler for foreigners in the country.
With global travel (and thus tourism and commerce) bouncing back strongly and surpassing historic levels, new methods are required to help governments expand their geographic reach, and manage visa applications more quickly and efficiently – and TLScontact has them.