VFS Global, a worldwide outsourcing and technology services specialist for diplomatic missions and governments, has come under scrutiny over allegations of abusive market dominance and unlawful tender procedures, resulting in excessive visa application prices and hidden fees.
VFS Global is also the company mandated by South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs to develop a solution for biometric intake in line with the new immigration regulations, announced as part of the Immigration Amendment Act.
A spokesperson for the Competition Commission told Tourism Update it was investigating allegations of abuse of dominance against VFS, in the visa support services market. At the time of going to print, the Commission was expected to submit its recommendations on whether action should be taken against the visa service company in coming days.
VFS Global has 100% market share in visa assistance for Spain, Canada, Denmark, Austria, New Zealand, Greece, and Sweden. In principle, applicants should be able to go to the High Commission to apply for visas but often this is discouraged and clients are redirected to VFS.
Jaco Badenhorst, MD of Visa Request, brought the initial complaint to the Competition Commission. He told Tourism Update the market dominance VFS Global had created in several visa markets had led to excessive visa application prices with hidden fees as well as abominable service levels.
Spokesperson for VFS Global, Rustom Dhanbhoora, denies that VFS has created a monopolistic situation, “as there are numerous other visa processing companies in the market”, and that service fees are not unjustifiably high. “Service fees levied by VFS Global are approved by the client governments and form part of the tendering procedure. The level of service fee is based on various parameters as stipulated in the tender requirement and the country of operation,” he says.
VFS Global has also come under scrutiny following the tender process through which it became the sole service provider to receive and manage South Africa’s visa applications for inbound travellers.
Haniff Hoosen, the DA Shadow Minister of Home Affairs, said in a statement that he had requested an investigation into an estimated R1bn visa facilitation tender awarded to VFS Visa Processing to determine whether the tender was awarded unlawfully. The DA is also concerned that a staff member left the Department of Home Affairs to work for the company that appears to have improperly benefited from the tender.
“The timing surrounding the introduction of new visa regulations and the awarding of the tender to VFS seems very convenient. This new information raises questions about Minister Gigaba’s claims that these regulations are in the interest of security,” Hoosen said.
