Global probe alleges aggressive upselling at VFS centres: 'A captive market'

Europe-based investigative journalism organisation Lighthouse Reports has come up with a sweeping report accusing VFS Global, the world’s largest visa-outsourcing company, of systematically pressuring applicants to opt for expensive add-on services, while capitalising on a heavily skewed global visa regime that burdens travellers from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

“Across much of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, the visa outsourcing giant has become notorious. For people in these regions seeking to travel for work, study or to unite with family, VFS is often their first encounter with the border. And for many, this entails not only the stress and uncertainty of restrictive visa regimes, but also being compelled to hand over cash for what should be optional services — sales that have become central to VFS Global’s growth,” the report said.

'Whatever they told, I had to follow'

To corroborate its claim, Lighthouse Reports told the story of Vrinda, a 71-year-old woman from Pune who uses a walking stick. Recalling her experience at a VFS centre in the city while applying for a visa to meet her son and newborn granddaughter in Belgium, she told the investigating outlet, “Whatever they told me, I had to follow.”

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But what did they tell her? According to Lighthouse Reports, the elderly woman was tired by the time she reached the VFS office in June last year after braving torrential rain and city traffic. Reaching 15 minutes late for her appointment, Vrinda explained to the officials about the situation and that she has back problems. But she was shocked to hear them say that she had two options – either book a new appointment or pay for a premium service costing about €35 (nearly Rs 4,000). She had to follow the instructions.

It was not an exceptional case. Vrinda’s experience was one of many documented in the year-long investigation by Lighthouse Reports and 14 partner media organisations into the operations of VFS Global, which manages visa processing contracts for 71 governments.

SMS, courier return, premium lounge services

While applicants have to pay the mandatory service charges, VFS also turned optional services, including SMS updates, courier returns and premium lounge access, into major source of profits, the investigative report alleged.

“There is always a need to sell value-added services,” a visa officer working in Nigeria told Lighthouse Reports. “You have to be persistent in making sure the applicant sees reasons to buy them.”

'Low-paid staff chase sales targets'

A year-long probe conducted by Lighthouse Reports alongside 14 media partners has revealed that VFS has built a model around aggressive — and sometimes deceptive — upselling practices. “Staff are typically paid low base salaries and awarded bonuses contingent on meeting monthly sales targets for value added services, creating perverse incentives to sell,” the report said.

Revenue from these add-ons has been central to the company's surging bottom line, which has quadrupled over recent years, and has helped generate enormous returns for its investors, the investigation's findings revealed.

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What the visa officer in Nigeria said was not too different. According to him, bonuses tied to selling premium add-ons can reach nearly double the base pay of contracted staff. The officer noted that contractors form the bulk of VFS's workforce and take home around €126 (around Rs 14,000) per month. The outcome, he said, is relentless pressure to push sales at every opportunity.

A former visa operations officer at VFS’s Delhi centre said they had targets on SMS and courier (numbers).

“We had to pitch, try to convince, even if the applicant said no. People think that we are from the embassy and whatever we are saying is right — especially those visiting for the first time. So, we got very few denials,” Rohit Taneja, who worked for the company in 2016-17, told Lighthouse Reports.

Former employees across several countries described intense pressure to upsell customers.

A former employee in Kenya alleged that optional services were sometimes added to bills without applicants fully understanding they could refuse them.

“Most customers would just accept this,” the ex-employee told Lighthouse Reports.

Bribery charges, govt apathy

The investigation also uncovered evidence of bribery involving outside agents and, in some cases, VFS staff, alongside repeated mishandling of personal data that experts characterised as “manifestly serious violations of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)”. Internal documents suggest contracting governments are aware of these violations, yet seldom act decisively.

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Drawing on hundreds of EU documents, financial records, customer receipts, and interviews with former VFS employees, the probe exposes how governments have handed a core public function to a company that treats visa applicants as a captive market ripe for exploitation.

The investigation further uncovered alleged corruption risks. Lighthouse Reports said undercover footage recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo showed a VFS staff member allegedly offering guaranteed visas in exchange for additional payments.

Applicants say they are pressured, misled

The investigating team also visited several VFS centres, and outreach through social media forums revealed dozens of applicants who reported being pressured, misled, or left with little real choice but to pay additional fees.

Through Freedom of Information requests to Swedish embassies, the investigation obtained over 2,000 receipts from 16 countries across Asia and Africa over two weeks last week, finding that premium add-on services accounted for 30 per cent of VFS revenue in the sample.

VFS rejects allegations

VFS Global, however, denied wrongdoing.

“Any suggestion that VFS Global’s financial growth has been generated through improper conduct is false,” the company said, as quoted by Lighthouse Reports.

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Criticism of the company has also spilled online. An online petition cited by Lighthouse Reports accused VFS of creating a “digital wall” around Schengen visa access and operating without adequate accountability.

“We’ll keep pushing because those of us who have to deal with VFS are demanding a permanent systemic fix rather than one-off resolutions,” said Joyce José, the Angolan-British activist who launched the petition, according to the report.