UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 6, 2010. VFS Global, a visa center which will offer visas to France, Bulgaria, and Greece to the locals, opened in Yekaterinburg.
The center’s representatives explain the introduction of such a service in Yekaterinburg has to do with a 30% increase in the number of visa applications from people willing to travel to Europe.
The center’s director Elena Trushina explains the place was mainly set up to make it easier for the customers to apply for a visa.
‘It only takes an applicant fifteen minutes at the most to submit the papers. A French visa will take three days to process, the one to Greece will be ready in five days,’ Ms Trushina said.
In addition to the consulate’s fee, the center will also charge you its own commission whose size depends on the current euro exchange rate.
‘For example, you have to pay 1,490 RUR in the form of a consulate fee for the French visa; this means our commission will come to 1,137 RUR. To go to Bulgaria on a short visit, you’ll have to pay 1,540 to the consulate and 840 RUR to the center. For a Greek visa, you’ll have to pay 1,470 RUR to the consulate and 1,100 RUR to the center,’ Elena Trushina explained.
The visa center’s processing capacity is estimated at 75,000 people a year.