Greece has announced the opening of three visa application centres in the GCC - two in Saudi Arabia and one in Oman - in partnership with VFS Global, a leading outsourcing and technology services specialist for diplomatic missions worldwide.

Located in Riyadh, Al Khobar and Muscat, the centres started accepting visa applications for Greece from Saudi Arabia and Oman from January 2019. With the launch of these new centres, applicants no longer need to visit the Embassy of Greece and instead need to submit their visa applications at the VFS Global centres in these two countries.

During the official inauguration of the visa application centre in Riyadh on January 22, Ioannis Taghis, ambassador, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of Greece in Saudi Arabia, said: "The number of travellers to Greece from Saudi Arabia and Oman is growing rapidly. Thus, we partnered with VFS Global to provide enhanced visa services to applicants from Riyadh, Al Khobar and Muscat. I am confident that the applicants will find value and benefit from the launching of these new centres.”  

Commenting on the launch of the new visa application centres, Vinay Malhotra, regional group COO – Middle East, South Asia & P.R. China, VFS Global, said: "Saudi Arabia and Oman are witnessing a growth in the number of travellers to Greece for leisure and business. The strategic decision to open VFS Global visa application centres in Riyadh, Al Khobar and Muscat was made to bring travellers greater accessibility to seamless visa application services in comfortable and efficiently managed facilities.”

Each year, approximately 6,000 travellers from Saudi Arabia, and 800 from Oman, visit Greece, a holiday destination that continues to grow in popularity. VFS Global has been associated with the Client Government of Greece since 2007 and presently serves applicants through a vast network of Visa Application Centres across Armenia, Bahrain, China, India, Turkey, UAE, amongst others. - TradeArabia News Service