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Most European citizens will likely never have heard of VFS Global. But across much of Africa, Asia + the Middle East, the visa giant has become notorious Our investigation finds VFS has made huge profits by exploiting people with 'weak' passports

lighthousereports.comThe Visa Empire: Borders as a BusinessOutsourcing giant VFS Global has made huge profits by exploiting people around the world whose ‘weak’ passports require them to apply for visas to travel

29/5/26, 10:05 am13 reposts17 likes

Lighthouse Reports

@lighthousereports.com

29 May

Through FOI disclosure, financial records, source interviews + data analysis, we found that VFS – which is contracted by 71 govts to carry out visa administration – routinely misleads + pressures applicants to buy costly services that should be optional

Lighthouse Reports

@lighthousereports.com

29 May

Sales of extra services have become central to VFS’s business: our analysis of 2K+ Swedish visa applicant receipts from 16 countries indicates they account for 30% of its revenue The company's operating profits have surged from €31m to €172m in 7 years

Lighthouse Reports

@lighthousereports.com

29 May

We also uncovered evidence that VFS customers are sometimes pushed towards external agents soliciting bribes due to problems with VFS's appointment booking system, and that the company repeatedly mishandles applicants' personal data

Lighthouse Reports

@lighthousereports.com

29 May

Hundreds of pages of internal documents show European govts that outsource visa administration to VFS are well aware of the problems – which sometimes amount to breaches of its legal obligations – but have failed to take meaningful action