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India resumes consular services across Australia with upgraded VFS centres
The resumption of services follows a suspension that began on July 1 amid legal proceedings over India's outsourcing contract for consular services in Australia.
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Bhavana P - Thu, 23, Jul 2026
- 11:40 EDT
- 44
Representative image / IANS
Indian consular, passport and visa (CPV) services resumed across Australia on July 23 with the launch of upgraded Indian Consular Application Centres (ICACs) operated by VFS Global in six cities, ending a 23-day disruption that had halted new applications nationwide.
The High Commission of India, Canberra said the revamped centres are designed to improve access and customer service for the Indian diaspora and other applicants.
The new ICACs feature increased service counters, expanded staffing, greater appointment availability, extended hours for application submission and document collection, reduced waiting times, multilingual toll-free customer support, and 24/7 interactive voice response (IVR) and AI-enabled digital assistance.
Also read: India eases OCI application document requirements
The upgraded network operates in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Applicants seeking passport, visa, Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) and other consular services must book appointments online in advance through the official VFS Global website before visiting a centre.
Walk-in submissions are not accepted. Applicants are also advised to review the latest application procedures, document checklists, payment methods, postal application requirements and applicable fees before lodging their applications.
In addition to the applicable Government of India fee, VFS Global will charge a service fee of AUD 115 per application. According to the High Commission, the fee includes document return by courier, SMS status updates, photocopying and photograph services, and assistance with form filling and application support where applicable.
The resumption of services follows a suspension that began on July 1 amid legal proceedings over India's outsourcing contract for consular services in Australia. During the pause, applicants were unable to submit new passport, visa and OCI applications, although emergency consular assistance remained available through Indian diplomatic missions.
The High Commission said the government remains committed to providing accessible, efficient and customer-friendly consular services to the Indian community and all applicants across Australia.
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