disputed . relevant discussion may be found on the talk page . please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met . february 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message vfs global type private company founded mumbai maharashtra india july 2001 2001 07 headquarters zurich switzerland area served worldwide key people zubin karkaria ceo number of employees 3 769 30 june 2015 parent kuoni travel website www.vfsglobal.com vfs global is an outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide . 1 the company manages visa and passport issuance related administrative and non judgmental tasks for its client governments . vfs global s offices and operations across the world are certified with iso 9001 2008 for quality management system iso 27001 20013 for information security management system and iso 14001 2004 for environmental management system . vfs global is a wholly owned subsidiary of the kuoni group a public listed company headquartered in zurich switzerland . the shareholding or governance structure of vfs global has not been made public . contents 1 history 2 data security 3 organisational monopoly & dominance 4 references history edit vfs global was established in mumbai in 2001 when it set up three visa application centres for its first client government the united states of america . by 2005 vfs global served eleven governments including the united kingdom australia and canada . in 2007 it won its first global account that of the home office uk visas & immigration formerly uk border agency for operations across 33 countries . vfs global works predominantly with a user pay revenue model where it receives its service fee directly from the visa applicants in addition to the visa fees which are remitted to the diplomatic mission . data security edit a security flaw in the vfs global managed online application website for the british foreign & commonwealth office resulted in up to 50 000 visa applications from india nigeria and russia being publicly accessible . 2 3 the security flaw was known since december 2005 but the foreign and commonwealth office website was only shut down after an investigation in may 2007 following reports in the media . 3 4 the security breach was first reported by an indian applicant 5 in december 2005 after which no effective remedial action was taken by either vfs nor ukvisas the joint home office and foreign & commonwealth office unit which runs the uk s visa service through british diplomatic posts overseas . the same applicant went public in may 2007 after he noticed that his earlier warnings were ignored . the report 6 7 8 of the investigation by the independent investigator linda costelloe baker highlighted organisational failures by both vfs and ukvisas . the report also recommended that the vfs online visa applications not be resumed for applications from india . this has since been replaced by the secure online applications made available directly at the visa4uk official government website of the uk border agency . baker also mentioned in the report that following this incident ukvisas conducted extensive testing and found no evidence that data had been stolen or misused . citation needed vfs underestimated what was necessary in order to protect personal data to the levels expected by the uk data protections act . after this incident several visa application level checks were put in place . technical processes were also upgraded later to check the records of the online application site . in november 2007 the uk information commissioner s office announced that it had found the foreign office in breach of its obligations under the data protection act 1998 . the information commissioner s office required the foreign office to sign a statement 9 that it would comply with the data protection act and would not reopen the vfs uk visa online facility . it has been reported by the guardian 10 that as a result of this ruling the foreign office would review its relationship with vfs and seek to significantly reduce its outsourced work especially in the area of it . consequently applicants from india today need to apply directly at the visa4uk official government website for online visa applications . after the report was issued vfs introduced various measures to ensure safe and secure business environment . one of them was to make all its centres iso compliant . 11 since this incident several governments have been critical of vfs global s abilities and have raised concerns over security . 12 there s the accountability issue the privacy issue and why are we outsourcing to a for profit entity something that belongs in the security mandate asked victor wong executive director of the chinese canadian national council . liam clifford of global visas told the sunday telegraph once you put this work in the hands of private companies overseas you no longer have the same protection . vfs global s security flaws were called into question again in july 2015 when their online visa forms for italy allowed users to see the personal information of other applicants including their date of birth passport details and addresses if they mistakenly input the id number of another person when logging into the system . 13 organisational monopoly & dominance edit various sources cite vfs global as an example of a monopoly company operating globally in the visa processing outsourcing sector under the ownership of kuoni group . the shareholding or governance structure of vfs global is not made public as of yet by kuoni . monopoly results in lack of competition processing standards and administerial dubiousness that causes a range of confusion for policy makers globally while awarding and administering government contracts without tendering . this has also led to problems in visa application pricings and also caused concerns in the areas of centralised document handling and content security though vfs claims a streamlined application submission process in all its centres . 14 it is reported by whom in south east asia that vfs own staff at its collection offices attempts to abuse its dominant status by making their own rules with visa applicants . citation needed this includes entry criteria to the vfs centres and also level of assistance offered to applicants . 15 in june 2014 it was reported by whom that vfs global is being investigated by the south african competition commission regarding allegations of market dominance by vfs global in the visa support services market to foreign embassies . citation needed the commission s spokesperson themba mathebula stated that the commission s screening unit had completed its preliminary investigation and submitted its report recommending further formal investigations into vfs . 16 vfs global is dominant collaborative partners in all over the world . among them vfs tasheel is major one . tasheel works closely with the ministry of hajj the ministry of interior and all umra companies that provide transportation and lodging . tasheel helps motamireen reach their destination in an orderly way . vfs tasheel international is a collaborative enterprise formed by tasheel 17 and vfs global leveraging the increased specialization of capabilities globalization and value optimization of the two successful entities . references edit vfs global . www.vfsglobal.com . retrieved 2015 10 15 . melissen edited by jan ; fernandez ana mar 2011 . consular affairs and diplomacy . leiden martinus nijhoff publishers . p. 136 . isbn 978 90 04 18876 1 . a b bollard mark 18 may 2007 . indian problem could be worldwide . the register . retrieved 27 april 2015 . exposed indian visa application data accessible to anyone with a web browser . daniweb.com . 2012 06 20 . retrieved 2012 09 13 . open circuit identity leakage trust vfs to reveal all . sanjibmitra.blogspot.com . 2007 05 10 . retrieved 2012 09 13 . report of the independent investigation pdf . fco.gov.uk . 2009 11 05 . retrieved 2012 09 13 . investigator ridicules uk visa site . the register . retrieved 2012 09 13 . u.k. government slammed over bug in outsourced web site . computerworld . 2007 08 10 . retrieved 2012 09 13 . foreign office in breach of the data protection act pdf . information commissioner s office . 13 november 2007 . retrieved 2012 09 13 . bobbie johnson 2007 11 14 . uk government failed to protect privacy of online visa applications ; guardian.co.uk . london guardian . retrieved 2012 09 13 . travel & hospitality vfs global express computer . expresscomputeronline.com . 2008 10 13 . retrieved 2012 09 13 . private firm s work with visas raises concerns . toronto . thestar.com . 2008 10 13 . retrieved 2012 09 13 . saeed kamali dehghan 17 july 2015 . users data compromised after technical glitch at home office contractor . the guardian . hunter murray . 2013 08 01 australian immigration the snowden link . dissident voice . retrieved on 2015 03 30 . make sure your uk visa application is not refused because of vfs thailand ltd. thaiscare.com 2011 10 02 . retrieved on 2015 03 30 . dead link donnelly lynley 27 june 2014 . visa services under investigation . mail & guardian . vfs tasheel . www.vfstasheel.com . retrieved 2016 10 04 . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title vfs global & oldid 742852630 categories outsourcing companiescompanies established in 2001hidden categories all articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from april 2016use indian english from march 2015all wikipedia articles written in indian englishuse dmy dates from march 2015npov disputes from february 2014all npov disputespages using infobox company with unsupported parametersall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from april 2015articles with specifically marked weasel worded phrases from april 2016articles with unsourced statements from april 2016 navigation menu personal tools not logged 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