India’s new Consul General in Melbourne, Anish Rajan, has announced that the city’s Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) centre will move to a larger premises on St Kilda Road, with more counters aimed at reducing long waiting times for visa and OCI services.
Speaking during his first interaction with multicultural media since arriving in Melbourne earlier this year, Rajan said, “We have got a lot of complaints that the VFS office is cramped and doesn’t have enough counters. So the new one is going to improve the experience and service of the Indian diaspora and all Australians coming to VFS.”
Rajan said the new centre would have 15 counters, a significant increase from the current setup, and was expected to begin functioning in about six weeks.
“More space and more counters mean more services and appointment times coming down, in some cases by more than two months,” he said.
The Consul General also acknowledged frustrations around OCI applications and consular websites, saying several systems needed updating. He is planning to add a chatbot and standardise things.
Rajan, who landed in Melbourne on 21 January and recently completed four months in the role, said he had been warmly welcomed by the Indian community.
“I have really enjoyed the hospitality of the people of Melbourne,” he said.
He described the Indian diaspora in Victoria as talented and influential, saying the community had an important role to play in strengthening India-Australia ties beyond “cricket and curry”.
“Yes, we have to celebrate cricket and curry. Those are strong things that connect the community with the consulate and the larger Australian community,” he said.
“But it is also very important to see how we can best use the skills and talent in this diaspora in business, science, technology, sport and culture.”
During the interaction, Rajan was also asked about speculation surrounding a possible visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Melbourne in July. While not ruling it out, he stressed that nothing had been officially confirmed yet.
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