§ Mr. GardinerTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the new visa centres will open in(a) Gujarat and (b) the Punjab. [93879]
§ Mr. RammellWe plan to open a visa application centre in Jalandhar (Punjab) on 3 February. New application centres will also open that day in New Delhi and Chandigarh. The new application centre in Gujarat will open on 24 February in Ahmedabad, as will the centres in Mumbai and Pune. We also plan to open application centres in Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad on 10 February and in Kolkata on 17 February.
The establishment of this network of 10 application centres is part of our continuing effort to improve visa services for our customers in India. Many will no longer need to make the often long and difficult journey to make a visa application, but instead can visit one of the conveniently located application centres closer to their home.