The centre will enable residents of Assam and other north-eastern states to apply for visas to Cyprus, Egypt, Ireland, Japan, Malta, Morocco and the United Kingdom. The facility will also accept Schengen visa applications, which allow travellers to visit 29 European countries.
Staff Reporter
Guwahati: In a development that is expected to ease the visa application process for people of the region wishing to travel abroad, the first visa application centre of the Northeast has been inaugurated in the city.
Set up by VFS Global within the Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT) complex at Khanapara here, the visa application centre was inaugurated by Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The centre will enable residents of Assam and other north-eastern states to apply for visas to Cyprus, Egypt, Ireland, Japan, Malta, Morocco and the United Kingdom. The facility will also accept Schengen visa applications, which allow travellers to visit 29 European countries.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister noted that residents of Assam and the Northeast had so far been required to travel to Delhi or Kolkata to apply for visas to foreign countries.
With the opening of the VFS Global centre, they will now be able to apply for visas to several countries from Guwahati itself.
The Chief Minister said the centre would make international travel services more accessible to people across the Northeast and bring several countries closer to the region.
He described the initiative as an important step towards facilitating international travel, adding that its benefits would extend beyond Guwahati to all eight states of the Northeast.
Underlining the role of VFS Global, the Chief Minister said the organisation would assist applicants in completing the visa application process in accordance with the prescribed rules and procedures. However, the decision to grant or reject a visa would rest solely with the embassy or consulate of the country concerned. He thanked VFS Global for establishing the centre in Guwahati.
Highlighting the importance of Act East Policy under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister claimed the policy had placed the Northeast at the centre of efforts to strengthen India's relations with neighbouring countries to its east. Improved infrastructure, better connectivity and economic cooperation had opened new opportunities for Assam, he added.
The Chief Minister announced that Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati would reach a new milestone on October 27. The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation had designated Guwahati Airport as an important hub for international passengers under the hub-and-spoke model.
Under this arrangement, from October 27, passengers completing the required immigration formalities in Guwahati before travelling abroad would not have to undergo the same immigration process again at another airport in India. Passengers from other states could use Guwahati as a transit hub for international travel.
Similarly, passengers travelling from other states to catch international flights from Guwahati would be able to complete their immigration formalities at their respective airports and proceed to Guwahati for their onward international journeys.
The Chief Minister said direct flights were already operating from Guwahati to Dubai, Singapore and Bhutan, while a flight service to Bangkok would commence on October 27.
He maintained that the new visa application centre, the upcoming hub-and-spoke arrangement at Guwahati Airport and other related initiatives would help establish Guwahati and Assam as major international connectivity hubs in the country.
Attributing the rise in tourist arrivals to Assam's scenic natural beauty and rich cultural heritage, he said more than six crore tourists had visited the state during the decade from the financial year 2016-17 to 2025-26. The visitors included more than 2.41 lakh foreign tourists.
Tourists from several countries, including the United Kingdom, France, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, the United States, Switzerland, Japan, Bangladesh, Canada, Spain, Belgium and Israel, had visited Assam.
He claimed that these figures reflected growing international interest in Assam and highlighted the immense potential for further growth in the tourism sector.
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