First Permanent Schengen Visa Application Centre

Tuesday 3rd of March 2020

First Permanent Schengen Visa Application Centre

The permanent Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) Visa Application Centre in Male City 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.

Minister Shahid thanked the Government of Germany and Czech Republic for taking the initiative to establish the Visa Centre in the Maldives and support towards the initiative. The centre will provide visa facilitation services to Maldivians who wish to travel to Germany and the Czech Republic.

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.

Although the Centre would initially cater to those travelling to Germany and Czech Republic as the main destination, Minister Shahid expressed confidence that more European countries would follow Germany and the Czech Republic and join with VFS in the close future.