Organising business trips for your travellers becomes more complicated when visas are required. Dave Richardson asks the experts for tips...
A lot of people are proud of their expensive dentures, but did you know you mustn’t even show your teeth when having a picture taken for a UK passport application? And did you know that when applying for a visa to visit India, the size of the photograph must be 5cm x 5cm – which is not the size that UK photo booths provide?
These are just two examples of the apparently petty restrictions that can lead to an application for a visa being refused and potentially ruin a business trip. Knowing the ins and outs of visa and passport regulations, not only for UK nationals but foreign nationals from any country, is why it could be essential to use a specialist provider to sort out your travellers’ needs, rather than attempt to do it yourself.
In an ideal world we wouldn’t need visas, but in these security-conscious times the requirements are getting more, rather than less, onerous. Requiring visas has also become a major revenue stream, especially for developing countries, while some nations have outsourced the initial part of the visa application process to private companies – meaning more professionalism, but higher costs.
Visas have become big business – look no further than VFS Global, a subsidiary of Swiss-based Kuoni Group. Since it was set up 10 years ago it has processed around 30 million applications worldwide, being used by the UK government in over 30 countries, and by Russia to process applications here in the UK.
While VFS works on behalf of governments, there are many private outfits in the UK working with businesses or travel management companies (TMCs) to acquire visas – and they can also handle passport applications. The largest, and also a global player, is CIBT, while VisaSwift is one of the biggest home-grown players. There are also many other smaller companies, some specialising in visas for one particular country.
This has become a highly professional, technology-led business, offering the option of quick turnarounds (as far as embassies or consulates allow) for business people in a hurry. But the cost can be high (see table, p117), and you can expect to pay over £300 for some multi-entry visas.
But it is also a business where personal contacts are still important, both at management level between visa specialists and embassies; and between individual couriers and staff on the embassy counter. This is what you can rarely achieve when you do it yourself, and visa specialists also keep an ear open for political events that can affect the process. It used to be said that whenever the UK and Russia got involved in tit-for-tat expulsions of suspected spies, the visa application process in each country would virtually grind to a halt for a while.
China is another in-demand visa issuer fond of changing the rules, and, according to CIBT, is no longer accepting invitations on Chinese letterheads or invitations that state at the top: “Visa Notification of the Ministry of Information People’s Republic of China”. Now applicants must provide a letter confirming their invitation or an “invitation letter of duly authorised unit”.
Many businesses regard visa services as part of a TMC's remit, and most travel managers use a visa specialist whether through a TMC or not.
The advantages of using both a TMC and a visa specialist are extolled by Advantage business travel corporate director Ken McLeod. “Requirements vary so much,
but TMCs know which visa companies have a particularly good relationship with certain embassies, and that really helps,” he says. “TMCs use one particular visa company for most of their requirements, but at times they might use another or an overseas contact. Big organisations have their own set-ups for acquiring visas, but SMEs really need the help of a TMC.”
McLeod might be a seasoned traveller, but he encountered problems himself when flying from Australia to Dubai via Qatar. Because he was transferring to a low-cost flight in Qatar he had to go through immigration and did not have a visa. Luckily, hit was possible to get a visa on arrival, although at a cost.
PricewaterhouseCoopers uses its TMC to arrange all visas except for Russian visas, when it uses a Russian firm. Head of business services Mark Avery says: “Russia is a complex market and things can change rapidly. When working there you must have a business visa, and an individual is not allowed to work more than 30 days in Russia per year. If the 30-day rule is exceeded the company is liable to be fined by way of additional tax.
“We have an information site on our portal where people can quickly check if they need a visa. They then complete a template and email it to the TMC. When things change like in China recently, we also communicate these changes via our travel champions network [consisting of individuals who act as a point of contact for all travel information]. The template was introduced so the TMC could see if they had all the information immediately, and it also gives comfort to the booker/traveller that they have provided all they need in one hit. Time is often short as we book late, so any changes or errors must be avoided.”
Unusually for a TMC, ATPI operates its own visa service in London rather than using a visa specialist. Simon Rawlins, manager of ATPI’s passport and visa section, says this does not necessarily save on costs, but by cutting out a third party it has closer control over the whole process.
“Our travel consultants are prompted to ask if a valid visa is in place, and this will also be flagged up on self-booking tools,” he explains. “ATPI deals a lot with the oil industry, and for 2010 we arranged numerous business visas for Brazil. This year, Angola and West Africa are in demand. With most countries the process is fairly straightforward, but a sudden increase in demand can outstrip the ability to cope. This happened when Azerbaijan withdrew visas on arrival as the workload suddenly increased, but they have now caught up.
“China, India and Russia have set up service centres to check initial applications, and that suits some embassies as local authorities don’t want to see queues on the streets. One of the biggest issues at present is with photographs, as with the UK passport application and Indian visas. The UK rules say you must not smile or show your teeth, as any glint off the teeth disrupts the scanner and the biometric map of your face.”
India’s requirement for a 5cm x 5cm photo (which must not include any white border) is problematic, as no UK photo booth will produce that size – but ATPI can resize an image to fit requirements, or you can go to a photo shop. India also requires applicants to list all countries visited in the last 10 years, and if other stamps are discovered in a passport the application may be rejected. India also requires all applicants to include any middle names on the application form, if they have them.
The vast majority of businesses and TMCs with a regular visa requirement go to a visa specialist, and CIBT claims to be the world’s largest, handling about one million applications a year. It has taken over UK companies including, recently, TLCS, and among other countries it operates in the US (its headquarters), Canada, Germany, Holland and Switzerland, with more European bases to come. Non-UK citizens may have very different visa requirements, even for visiting European countries, so having a global reach can be useful as applications are better handled in the traveller’s home country.
Shawn Hefner, CIBT UK director of business development, says: “Multi-national companies are looking for the same service around the world, and organisations such as investment banks will do risk assessments on anyone they deal with. Historically, visa procurement has been handled by small companies and some can still provide a good service at a lower cost. But we can offer much more because of our global reach.
“The main trend in the UK is that we are seeing more demand for developing countries, especially in Africa, because of the natural resources, such as minerals and oil, and from the banks that are funding exploration. Most business comes to us directly, but some is via TMCs. We have people on site to help larger companies – there are 28, for example, at the World Bank in the US. “Technology has made a big difference both to embassies and to CIBT. We invest a lot each year in IT, and you can now download a complete visa pack and invoices.”
VisaSwift is a London-based specialist which is part of the same group as courier firm City & International, meaning it can offer some useful synergies. The company’s philosophy is based on “getting it right the first time”, as applications can be turned down for the most trivial of errors.
VisaSwift sales manager, Carlos Clara, says: “As things are always changing, it can be very difficult for companies to get it right first time unless they use a visa specialist. Often the problem is not with first-time applicants, but people who have acquired visas before and assume the process is just the same. Some even make basic errors like forgetting to sign an application.”
VisaSwift feels the issuing process has improved with the arrival of specialist handling agencies such as VFS Global, despite the inevitable increase in costs. Clara says: “Russia’s visa operation was outsourced in 2009 and it is very well organised. The processing centre is a business, so the more business they get in, the more profit they make. India has improved, too – you get a slight hiccup, especially for non-UK nationals, but they stick to their deadlines and have a next-day delivery service.”
Apart from the inconvenience of arranging a visa yourself – especially if you are not based in London – the process of keeping up with changes in requirements is a job in itself.
“People think we have it easy,” laments ATPI’s Simon Rawlins. “They think it’s just a case of sending in a form with a couple of photos, but so much more is involved. We do favours for certain embassies and High Commissions, and they occasionally do favours for us.”
This article was first published in ABTN's sister title Buying Business Travel, the award-winning magazine for company travel & meetings buyers and arrangers.
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