A permanent Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) Visa
Application Centre has opened in Male, which was inaugurated by the Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Abdulla Shahid, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of
Germany, Jörn Rohde and Ambassador of Czech Republic, Milan Hovorka.
The centre will provide visa facilitation services to
Maldivians who wishes to travel to Germany and Czech Republic.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Minister Shahid
thanked the Government of Germany and especially Ambassador Rohde for taking
the initiative to establish the Visa Centre in the Maldives. The Minister also
thanked the Government of Czech Republic for their support towards the
initiative, which the Minister noted, reflected the growing ties of friendship
and cooperation between the countries.
Both Ambassador Rohde and Ambassador Hovorka also
expressed confidence that this initiative would further strengthen the
increased tourism and trade between Maldives and their respective countries.
The VFS Centre would initially cater to those
travelling to Germany and Czech Republic as the main destination. Minister
Shahid, however expressed confidence that more European countries would follow
Germany and Czech Republic and join with VFS in the close future.
The establishment of the VFS Centre in the Maldives
aims to bring an end to the time-consuming and costly process for Maldivians
applying for Schengen visa through embassies based in Colombo or New Delhi.
Such Visa facilitation services are part of the Governments broader objectives
in providing quality consular services for Maldivians.
The Maldives has signed visa waiver Agreements with
the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Morocco and Thailand last year, and expanded
its visa arrangements with the neighbouring countries of India and Sri Lanka.
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