By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR:A ‘VFS Global Visa Application Center’ is going to be operational in Bhubaneswar on the occasion of ‘Odisha Day’, on 1st April 2026, Zubin Karkaria, Founder and CEO of VFS Global Group, has indicated in a letter to Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan.
For the convenience of the youth from Odisha going abroad for higher education and business, Shri Pradhan wrote a letter to the Union Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar on September 2, 2025, requesting for the establishment of a local center. Along with this, he also met and discussed the matter with the Global CEO of VFS, Zubin Karkaria. However, the Global CEO of VFS has accepted this proposal and has written a letter to the Union Minister Shri Pradhan regarding the opening of the Visa Application Center in Bhubaneswar from April 1, 2026.
He mentioned that in the first phase, visa applications for the UK and some selected countries will be accepted from this center. Later, other countries will also be included as per the demand. Through this center, local youth will be trained and provided employment. Along with the visa center, ‘Visa Concierge Service’ will also be available, which will facilitate form filling, insurance and other procedures.
Shri Pradhan expressed happiness over this in ‘X’ and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister of External Affairs and VFS Global CEO Zubin Karkaria for taking this important decision. With this initiative, students and businessmen from Odisha will no longer have to go to Kolkata or other cities for visa work. This will not only save their time, money and effort but will also create new employment opportunities for the local youth. This will be a milestone in the field of international connectivity of Odisha.
VFS Global has invited Shri Dharmendra Pradhan to be the Chief Guest at the inauguration of this centre. This initiative will give a new dimension to Odisha’s international connectivity.
