KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — A group of concerned students and workers have appealed to the government to classify visa processing as an essential service, following the “closure” of a visa outsourcing company here.
VFS (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd had posted on its website that its VFS Visa Application Centre at Wisma MCA here will remain closed due to local government lockdown restrictions until further notice.
“We profoundly believe that the VFS Visa Application Centre is an essential service that should be allowed to resume normal operations that adhere to all mandatory Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP),” said a spokesman for the Advocacy Alliance for Affected VFS Visa Applicants who only wanted to be known as Simon.
“We are concerned that the further closure of VFS will be a catastrophe as the mounting backlogs might cause undesirable delays for applicants to receive their visa approvals on time.”
The 30-year-old said he and his spouse are among those affected by the disruption as they too intended to travel overseas for study purposes.
He added the group had reached out to the Foreign Ministry yesterday for clarification but was instead asked to refer to the existing National Security Council’s SOP.
Simon said it was crucial that the centre be allowed to resume normal operations as the start dates of universities or employment of respective applicants draw near.
“We have to take into account the various quarantine period regulations overseas as well when we travel,” he said, adding that disruption to visa applications could directly impact one’s travel itinerary as well.
VFS (Malaysia) 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.
Subsequent to the group’s recent appeal, a petition was launched on June 30 and has since gathered more than 1,250 people demanding the centre swiftly resume normal operations.
Meanwhile in what seemed to be a silver lining, Simon said visa applications to the United Kingdom strictly for emergency work or study purposes had resumed limited operations as of today according to the latest developments by VFS.
“Some of our members travelling to the UK strictly for study and work purposes have already gotten their appointments in the coming weeks to provide their biometric information.
“However, for other countries like the United States or Canada, we have yet to receive any information on this,” he said.
He noted that the group had projected that the peak time for visa applications would range from July to October where students are expected to apply for their September enrolment while workers rush to start work for the new fiscal year.
Only companies listed as essential services in the NSC’s SOP for locations under both Phases One and Two of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) can operate, using a new letter under the Covid-19 Intelligent Management System (CIMS) 3.0.
CIMS is managed by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti).
