Move over text, the new age of digital evolution revolves around voice in the visa application process, making it easier and hassle-free. VFS Global, a leading visa outsourcing and technology firm, has come up with an AI-powered virtual assistant to assist UK visa applicants in 141 countries. Developed by dedicated teams located in Mumbai, Dubai and Berlin, this GenAI-powered chatbot supports users through both text and voice interactions, significantly reducing wait times and making interactions more natural.
“Similar technology has now been deployed for over 13 additional client governments across the world including—Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and South Africa,” Parveen Jiterwal, chief AI and innovation officer, VFS Global, told FE. The company manages front-end administrative tasks of visa applications, including document collection, biometric enrollment, and secure passport return.
“At VFS Global, we don’t just respond to technological shifts, we actively lead them. We were the first in our industry to implement AI responsibly, with a clear, organisation-wide strategy that aligns seamlessly with our broader business goals,” he said. According to him, deploying AI-powered virtual assistants globally was initially one of VFS Global’s most ambitious yet challenging goals, requiring meticulous data preparation, extensive testing, stringent privacy protocols, and robust safeguards around sensitive AI data. The company, which has partnerships with 68 governments globally, operates over 3,500 application centres across 158 countries. It has efficiently processed more than 307 million applications globally since inception in 2001.
“At the outset, the vision of deploying 1,600 specialised virtual assistants seemed overwhelming, as initial calculations projected nearly three years to accomplish even at an optimistic pace,” said Jiterwal. “Leveraging our proprietary Super Alpha AI Platform and a network of AI agents and speech models, we established an effective, scalable approach that allowed rapid and efficient deployment. Our global innovation teams in Mumbai, Dubai, and Berlin played crucial roles in overcoming these challenges,” he said, adding, “our proprietary large language model, meticulously fine-tuned internally, ensures tailored solutions that precisely support our strategic objectives.”
VFS Global envisions visa services that are not merely digital but intelligent, intuitive and personalised. Visa applicants can soon expect instant document verification with real-time, AI-driven verification managed by human oversight to ensure accuracy. VFS Global aims to enhance fraud detection powered by AI-powered predictive models, expand AI-powered virtual assistants with multilingual, context-aware and personalised conversational support via text and voice, and introduce advanced biometric solutions with an aim to reduce paperwork and enhance convenience.
