Visa applicants from India and Nepal can now apply for their Australian visas more conveniently through new upgraded centres.
Australia's Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) said that there are now three new and ten upgraded Visa Application Centres (VACs) in the region.
With services provided by VFS Global, the upgraded centres are located in the Indian cities of Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai (North) and New Delhi as well as one in Kathmandu, Nepal.
In future, visa applicants can lodge their visa requests from three new Australia VACs, to be opened in Jalandhar, Mumbai (South) and Pune over the next few weeks.
'This enhanced service network will save time and travel expense, and will speed up the entire visa application process,' said a DIBP spokesman.
Mark Pierce, Australian Consul General, Mumbai, inaugurated the new facilities in the city and said that he hopes it will lead to increased numbers of Indian business leaders, students and tourists heading to Australia.
'For the first time in its history, our High Commission in New Delhi issued more than 100,000 tourism visas to Indians in a single financial year, with numbers increasing by 10% in the first three months of this year,' he said. 'This is a real milestone for the bilateral relationship and follows a 50% increase in Indian student visa applications over the last year,' he added.
Anil Katoch, CEO for South Asia with VFS Global, described the move as an important one. 'Catering to the growing demand of Australia-bound travellers in India, we aim to offer high quality applicant-friendly services,' he explained.
'We aim to provide a seamless visa application experience to all those applying through our Visa Application Centres. This extension of our association with the government of Australia reflects their faith in our abilities, and we are sure this will go a long way in forging a longstanding partnership with VFS Global,' he added.