Progressing towards a
Sustainable Future

Sustainability
Report2019

CONTENTS
1.

2.

VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 CONTENTSSTRATEGY

5.

ENVIRONMENT

Letter from CEO ............................................................................

3

Reducing Our Footprint ........................................................ 23

Business Model .............................................................................

4

Green Initiatives 2019 ............................................................ 24

Governance ...................................................................................

5

Materiality ......................................................................................

6

Sustainable Development Goals .................................................

7

6.

ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION
Business Benefit to Society.................................................... 25

RESILIENCE
Physical Security ...........................................................................

8

Information Security.......................................................................

9

Process Excellence ........................................................................ 11
Business Continuity ....................................................................... 14

3.

BEYOND COMPLIANCE
Code of Conduct ........................................................................... 15
International Standards ................................................................. 17
Local Laws .................................................................................... 18

4.

PEOPLE

Employees ..................................................................................... 19

www.vfsglobal.com

Customers ..................................................................................... 21
Engaging Stakeholder ................................................................... 22

Note: The word ‘Customer’ mentioned in this report refers to ‘Applicant’@vfsglobalofficial@vfsglobalofficial@vfsglobal

VFS Global

01

VFS GLOBAL
Network

64

ClientGovernments*Data as on 31 December 2019

3,315

Visa Application
Centres

VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 INTRODUCTION

150

Countries ofOperation

219

Million+Applications~95

Million
Biometric
Enrolments

02

11,000+139
Employees

Nationalities

LETTER FROMCEOThis report is an important stepin our sustainability and ESG
leadership journey, and I am
excited to travel that path withyou.

VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 INTRODUCTION

03

Welcome to the VFS Global
Sustainability Report 2019. This
report brings our long trackrecord of responsible businesspractices and new initiatives
together in an accessible way forour stakeholders.

TRUST BUILT ON PERFORMANCESTAYING AGILEVFS Global has a strong track record as areliable and trusted industry leader. Our businessis based on trust and our credibility is built on
performance. To succeed, we will continue toinvest in our people, our systems, and ourtechnology, as well as creating eﬀective
frameworks that support our growth.

Together with strong controls, our industry
must stay agile to respond to changing market
needs.

DRIVERS FOR GROWTH

It’s why we put such emphasis on corecompetencies such as achieving PCMM Level 5,
which certiﬁes the strength of our organisational
culture (see, p.13). It’s why we have further
strengthened our Code of Conduct (see p.15).
And it’s why we continue to drive innovation by
investing annually a double-digit million amountin Swiss francs toward the digital transformationof our industry (see p.04).

As the world’s largest government visa
outsourcing and technology services
specialist, our outlook in this rapidly
expanding industry segment is good. In
emerging economies, travel is no longer aluxury, it is a necessity. Tighter border controls
and uptake of biometrics are placing greater
importance on eﬀective and innovative visa
services, and I am very proud of how VFS
Global has grown to meet theseopportunities.
Our purpose is to enable smooth travel forcustomers and eﬃcient visa processes forgovernments. We are now present in 150
countries, serving 64 client governments
across ﬁve continents. In 2019, we hit themilestone of 200 million visa applications
since inception in 2001 - a signiﬁcantachievement.

MANAGING RISK
A cornerstone of trust is responsible risk
management. Our customers entrust us with
important documents and secure handling of
personal data, and we take this extremely
seriously. We do not store customer data
beyond the application process, as per
requirements of our client governments. Our
state-of-the-art compliance and security
systems enable our managers to identify andmitigate risks in our business activities. Integrity
is one of our core values and we have zerotolerance for fraud and unethical businesspractices.

In 2019, we introduced our ‘Customer First’
initiative to enhance our customer care culture
and ensure excellent service outcomes,
including during peak season whenapplication volumes are high. I look forward toreporting on our progress in this importantarea going forward.

FUTURE FOCUS
VFS Global is committed to being a good
corporate citizen through continuously
improving our sustainability and ESG(Environment, Social and Governance)
performance. We will set ambitious ESG
targets and measure our progress against
them. This report is an important step on oursustainability and ESG leadership journey, andI am excited to travel that path with you.
I hope you enjoy reading about our progress
and look forward to your feedback.

Zubin Karkaria
CEO - VFS Global Group2

WHAT WE DO
We support client governments by managing
the administrative and non-judgemental tasks
related to visa, passport, identity
management, and other citizen services
including data and visa application
processing.
We currently service 64* client governments in
150 countries across ﬁve continents. Our
3,315 Visa Application Centres (VACs)
processed over 30 million Visa applications in
2019, with a total of 219 million applications
processed since inception in 2001, andaround 95 million biometric enrolments since2007. For individual customers, we provide asecure, eﬃcient one-stop shop for visas,
consular and citizen services. For
governments, we manage the administrative
tasks that enable them to focus entirely on theassessment of applications.
Our corporate headquarters are in Zurich,
Switzerland, while the management
headquarters are in Dubai, UAE. We are a
portfolio company of EQT, a leading global
private equity ﬁrm based in Stockholm,
Sweden. The Swiss-based Kuoni and
Hugentobler Foundation indirectly holds a
stake in VFS Global.

*Data as on 31 December 2019

HOW WE CREATE VALUEAt VFS Global, our aim is to enhancecustomer experience by making the visa
application process and other consular
related services as safe, automated, andseamless as possible. Through our global
presence and dedicated employees, wecreate value for all our stakeholders, including
the society at large. We are a people businessand have built a strong customer-focused
culture. Our team is made up of competentand dedicated staﬀ supported by innovativetechnology platforms to ensure security,
satisfaction, and eﬃciency.
Through our customised services, we help
our client governments reduce processcomplexity while they minimise costs, achieve
results and enhance customer experiences. In
everything we do, data privacy and security
are paramount. For this reason, VFS Global
does not store any customer data beyond thevisa application process. In line with our corevalues of Integrity, Commitment, andEntrepreneurship, we employ strict protocols
around the entire application processes aswell as around the enrolment and encryptionof biometric information.
In addition to front-end operations and ourVACs, we also oﬀer a range of addiotional
services such as convenient, expedited
application submission through Premium
Lounges at our centres and the value-added'Visa at Your Doorstep' service, which brings
convenience and greater accessibility to those

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VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 STRATEGY

041

STRATEGY
Business Model
VFS Global is the world's largest
provider of visa and consular
services.

3

who cannot personally visit a centre. In alargely compliance-driven sector, a key pointof diﬀerentiation for us is also to lead ourindustry beyond compliance.

OUR BUSINESS MODEL
Customer submits

Visa Application at VAC
or online and funds
Visa and service fee

Value-added service
offered to customers

1
Passport
returned

2
Application
processed andContribution toto customer

Visa Application
Centre & Technology
Platform
Visa Application
Centre & Technology
Platform

EconomySociety Environment

4

3
Destination
Government

Visa decision made by
Diplomatic Mission

submitted todestination
government

2

RISK MANAGEMENT AND
ACCOUNTABILITY
Our industry is strongly focused oncompliance and our dedicated Head ofCompliance reports directly to the Chief
Executive Oﬃcer and the Audit Committee.
In line with our internal audit charter andmanual, our internal audit takes a threefold
approach of compliance, controls, andadvisory practices. Issues are rated by level ofrisk and adequacy of controls. Audit ﬁndings
are compiled before a ‘management response’is developed, and agreed actions are
implemented. In 2019, we carried out several
thousand internal audits with zero high-riskﬁndings. Each quarter, Country Managers andDepartment Heads must sign oﬀ oncompliance checklists. In 2019, compliancechecklists were rolled out to an additional 18
countries, bringing the total to 67.
Our operations and processes also undergo
regular audits conducted by our client
governments, carried out both by central
Ministries and also by local consular teams
from diplomatic missions. For example, the
new EU visa code requires Schengen

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VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 STRATEGY

05

1

STRATEGY
Governance
At VFS Global, we are committed to
exceptional service delivery and practices.
That means our infrastructure, solutions, andmanagement of sustainability andEnvironmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
factors must meet the highest standards.

3

governments to conduct audits of visa
application centres every nine months. In
some cases, we also undertake joint audits
with our client governments - an area that will
see an increased focus in 2020.
An Enterprise Risk Management System iscurrently under development, and we haveestablished a CSR (Corporate Social
Responsibility) Committee comprised of ourChief Financial Oﬃcer, Chief HR Oﬃcer andChief Communications Oﬃcer. We havedeveloped a CSR Policy to ensurecompliance with CSR as per The Companies
Act, 2013 (India)

OUR SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAPVFS Global adheres to the 10 core principlesof the UN Global Compact in the areas ofhuman rights, labour, environment, andanti-bribery and corruption. Our standards
and expectations are set out in the VFS
Global Code of Conduct, Human Resources,and Diversity and Inclusion policies.
Our key strategic objectives for sustainability
include:• Establishing a robust sustainability process• Tracking and reporting of key performanceindicators (KPIs)—including for diversity,
ethics, anti-bribery and corruption, andgreenhouse gas (GHG) emissions• Creating awareness initiatives for employees• Further developing and improving oursustainability strategy

1
2
3
4

MONITORING AND REPORTING
Our Chief Communications Oﬃcer is
responsible for leading and monitoringsustainability performance and reputational
indicators, covering legal and regulatory
matters, and ﬁnance and taxation, overseeing
technical and information security monitoring,and for keeping abreast of political andsocietal issues, including employee
engagement and environmental concerns.

Board of Directors

Reviews and reassesses the company’s ESG goals,
achievements, measures and materiality.

Executive Board

Approves and reviews the company’ssustainability approach, ensures its inclusion in thebusiness strategy and operational implementation.

CSR Committee

Reviews and approves the CSR strategy,
overlooks the implementation of global
initiatives and its progress.

Sustainability Function

Drives and co-ordinates thecompany’s sustainability activities
with the regions, alignment acrossthe company and reports globallyon progress.

The KPI targets, initiatives and achievements
as well as the materiality assessment are
annually reviewed by the company’s Board of
Directors.
Our 2019 materiality assessment identiﬁed 13
main areas of impact. See Materiality (page
06).

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VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 STRATEGY

06

CLIENT GOVERNMENTS
Adhering to local laws and regulations in all
the countries of operation where we
represent our client governments is of criticalimportance.
We believe the most important areas for ourclients are:
1. Adhering to all service level agreementswith 100% compliance2. Continuing to be a trusted outsourcing
partner that operates at the highest levelsof service quality
3. Developing innovative ideas to further
streamline the overall process

CUSTOMERS
Clear expectations are built into our Service
Level Agreements (SLAs) with client
governments. To help track our performance,
we have implemented a ‘Voice of Customer’
initiative, which provides insights via email,social media, and digital and physicalfeedback forms. In addition, our ‘Customer
First’ initiative helps our departments tomanage customer expectations more
efficiently. And our omni-channel platform
provides real-time tracking and monitoring of

HIGH

At VFS Global, our primary stakeholders are
our client governments, our visa customers,
and our employees. We engage theseimportant stakeholders in a range of ways.

SIGNIFICANCE TO SOCIETY

In 2019, VFS Global reviewed and updated its
existing materiality assessment. From a
universe of relevant sustainability topics
including global trends, sector requirements,and stakeholder priorities, a list of 13 topics
was ranked by a working group according totheir significance to the society and to thebusiness, and mapped on a materiality matrix,
as shown on the right.

11
5

6

8
3

7

4
2

13 1

10
9

12

LOW

ENGAGING OUR STAKEHOLDERS

As a service company with over 3,000
centres, we are continuously trying to reduce
our environmental footprint. For example wehave defined specific KPIs to report against,
and monitor our annual carbon emissions andwater usage. To drive further improvements,
we have intiated projects to source green or
renewable energy, for our VACs and offices
and to have plastic bottle-free VACs in our
network.

5

2019 MATERIALITY ASSESSMENT

MATERIALITY APPROACH

Each of these forming a chapter heading inthis report, and within each chapter, we reporton key topics such as data protection,
information security, employee engagement,anti-bribery and corruption protections, andcustomer service.

4

1

STRATEGY
Materiality

Five priority themes emerged from theassessment:
Resilience
Beyond Compliance
PeopleEnvironment
Economic Contribution

3

LOW

SIGNIFICANCE TO VFS GLOBAL

Resilience
1 Crisis Management & BCM**
2 Information Security
Beyond Compliance
3 Statutory Requirements in multiple jurisdictions
4 Data Protection
5 CSR regulation compliance
6 POSH* regulation compliance
7 Anti-Bribery and Corruption*Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace

HIGH

People8 Customer Service
9 Employee Engagement
Environment
10 Environmental concerns
Economic Contribution
11 Taxation
Others
12 IPR ( Intellectual Property Rights )13 Competition law / Fair trading**Business Continuity Management

customer feedback across multiple platforms.
Additionally, we have introduced a dedicated'Twitter handle' - @VFSGlobalCare, torespond faster to customers on social media.
The key areas that matter to our customersare:
1. Smooth and convenient application
process experience
2. Ability to find out the status of theirapplication
3. Assurance their data and documents are
safe

EMPLOYEESWe have over 11,000 employees from 139
nationalities across our operations.

The most important areas for our employeesare:
1. Empowerment and collaboration
2. Training and career growth opportunities
3. Rewards & Recognition.

COMMUNITY
We engage with the wider community throughour philanthropic and apprenticeshipactivities, in addition to our employee
volunteering programme and participation incommunity services (see People sectionp.22).

2

STRATEGY
Sustainable Development Goals
VFS Global is committed to being a good
corporate citizen.
The United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) set out a sharedroadmap for the world we want, and a to-do
list for the planet. To ensure we are alignedwith global sustainability priorities, we have

SDG

mapped our business activities with the
SDG’s where we see most overlap andrelevance to us, and our stakeholders. This
enables us to take initiatives that contributetowards the SDG goals.
The table below indicates those goals andtargets identified as areas where VFS Global

TARGET
17.16 Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development,complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilise and shareknowledge, expertise, technology and ﬁnancial resources.
17.17 Encourage and promote eﬀective public, public - private and civilsociety partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies
of partnerships.
16.05 Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms
16.06 Develop eﬀective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels

8.7 Take immediate and eﬀective measures to eradicate forced labour, end
modern slavery and human traﬃcking
8.8 Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments
for all workers
7.2 By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the
global energy mix

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VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 STRATEGY

07

1

can make the biggest difference. Ourcontribution to each goal is described in therelevant section of the report, with examplesof what we are doing. Going forward, we will
set ambitious performance targets in line with
the SDGs.

CHAPTER

EXAMPLES OF WHAT WE ARE DOING TO SUPPORT THE GOALS
We use our knowledge and experience to support the World Travel and Tourism Council’svisa facilitation initiatives. See page 04.

Resilience

Beyondcompliance

PeopleEnvironment

Our visa facilitation partnership with client governments frees them to assess and makedecisions about visas more eﬀectively, and at a lower cost for tax payers. See page 04.

Our refreshed Code of Conduct includes a widely promoted Speak Up process and wecompleted our Code of Conduct 'Train-the-Trainers' programme by 2019-end. See page 15.
We clarify travel documentation processes, and support people from Zimbabwe and Lesotho
to get the permits needed to work abroad. See page 25.
Our Code of Conduct is explicit about identifying and reporting all incidences of forced orslave labour and human traﬃcking. See page 16.
Rigorous training and security measures ensure that our people and customers are safe at all
times. See page 08.
Through our partnership with the NGO 'myclimate', we contribute to a biogas project in Kolar
near Bangalore, India that provides renewable energy to over 40,000 people. See page 24.

7.3 By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy eﬃciency

Our eVisa services save energy by reducing customer travel and limiting paper use. See page12.

10.2 By 2030, empower and promote the social and economic inclusion ofall, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or
economic or other status

VFS Global counts 139 nationalities amongst its employees. Managers are encouraged towork all over the world – we are proud of our diversity of people and thought. See page 19.

10.7 Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible mobility of people

Economic
Contribution

Enabling mobility and improving the visa application experience are at the heart of ourbusiness. We processed 200 million visa applications between 2001 and 2019. See page 04.

1Documentation itself is kept as safe as possible.
Items are scanned and barcoded, and always
transported under padlock in tamper-proof zip-sealbags.
Outside our VACs, high security is also maintained.
Vehicles transporting documents are electronicallymonitored in real time. They are equipped withduress alarms, and SMS alerts trigger
automatically if vehicles speed, halt for too long, ordeviate from their specified routes.

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VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 RESILIENCE

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DATA SECURITY JOURNEY AT VFS GLOBALSTEP 1:

Online application form is stored in a secure data
centre, encrypted and under controlled access.
The centre is constantly upgraded for defence
against physical intrusion.

STEP 2:CUSTOMER SECURITY & SAFETY
Customer safety at Visa Application Centres(VACs) always comes first. Our trained security
specialists oversee this. All customers arescreened, and all premises are monitored aroundthe clock. A dedicated Global Security Operations
Centre keeps special watch over VACs in some of
the more vulnerable locations around the world,
supported by Regional Security Operations
Centres.

4

2

RESILIENCE
Physical Security
As VFS Global continues to grow, wewant to be the market leader in thevisa and consular management
solutions industry. To maintain trust,
we work to ensure that our levels of
information security, data protection,and data privacy are the highest
possible. We also strive to ensurethat our customers feel secure in all
our centres.

3

Applicant visits the centre, with supporting data.
Physical documentation is sealed, and any
electronic data, including biometrics, is captured
and encrypted.

STEP 3:

Data is safely transferred to the embassy or
consulate. The exact manner is agreed on withclient governments.

STEP 4:All data is purged, typically within 24 hours of thecompleted application cycle, unless client
governments direct otherwise. After 30 days, norecord of data is available anywhere in the VFS
Global system.

1

RESILIENCE
Information Security
We are uncompromising about the security of
our customers’ personal information. Our
Information Security Management System,
ISMS, is a three-component structure of
People, Processes, and Technology,
collectively certified to ISO/IEC 27001.

PEOPLEWe have a trained and dedicated dataprotection team lead by our Privacy & Group
Data Protection Officer, who reports directly to
the Chief Executive Officer and collaborates
with the information security team and otherkey stakeholders.
Stringent background checks are carried out
on all employees before they work in a VAC.
All staff, including seasonal personnel,
undergo mandatory and regular retraining inpolicies, procedures, and guidelines.

PROCESSES
Our service involves processing of significant
volumes of personal data. For security, speed,
and reliability, we automate this dataprocessing. This keeps us efficient. Oncecustomers’ applications are completed, we
purge their personal data. And unless a client
government requests otherwise, we delete
each applicant’s information within 24 hours
of receiving it. We make sure the system
works securely with a privacy frameworkacross the entire organisation.

We undergo regular government audits andconduct our own audits as well. We expect
our centre managers to be ready to answer
more than 60 questions in areas ranging fromaccountability and governance to record
management, data retention, training andawareness, security of personal data, anddata sharing.

In 2019, we conducted over 6,000
internal, external, and government
audits. As a result, there were no
significant issues registered.

TECHNOLOGYTo ensure security remains an integral
element of all our systems and services, wehave employed cutting-edge security
solutions to bolster our cybersecurity
defences and combat cyber threats.
Every centre is protected with perimeter
firewalls. Centre personnel see only theapplications for which they are responsible
and have restricted access within theapplication. Every server and computer havetheir own additional firewall as well as
antivirus and Advanced Threat Protection,
which is continuously monitored. All traffic
entering and leaving the VFS Global network
is monitored at all times and swift action istaken when unusual behaviour is detected.

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VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 RESILIENCE

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2DATA PROTECTION & DATA PRIVACY
Cybercrime and personal data theft is anincreasing risk. We want customers to knowthat we are committed to the safety of theirdata. Our robust security response is the rightthing to do, and in the bigger picture, it’s also
good for our business.
We also want our customers to understandthe steps we follow to respect their privacy.
There are important data-use concerns that
we address, such as consent and choice,clarity of purpose, the collection only of
information that is needed, and commitment
to data accuracy.
At VFS Global, our privacy controls arecompliant with the ISO 29100:2011 Standard,
and we were one of the few global companies
ready to comply with the European
Union-mandated General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR) as soon as it came into
force in May 2018. The ISO and GDPR
standards are the most rigorous in the world,
and we apply them globally – in 150 countries– even if individual countries don’t require it.
Underpinning all our operations is a robust
privacy framework that is supported byinformation security technology. This includes
multi-level safeguards, not just in physicalinfrastructure but also in our virtual systems.
To use a tech term, we have a 'Defence in
Depth' (DID) model – layered defensive
mechanisms, using people, processes andtechnology, to protect valuable data – which
are manned by highly trained and experienced
staﬀ.

VFS Global doesn’t retain any applicant data.
Personal data is collected at the Visa
Application Centre and directly transmitted to
the receiving client mission. On successful
acknowledgement of receipt, that data ispurged from the sending system. Paper
documents are sent to the client mission by
secured transportation. No copies ofapplicants’ data are made either digitally or
physically. We comply with the EU General
Data Protection Regulation and with dataprotection laws in our countries of operation.

DATA PROTECTION GOVERNANCE
Responsibility for data protection lies witheveryone within our organisation. Data
protection is overseen by our Privacy andGroup Data Protection Oﬃcer, who ensurescompliance with the requirements laid down
by data privacy and data protection laws andregulations. In addition, the Privacy and Group
Data Protection Oﬃcer makes sure our
privacy programme aligns with our businessstrategy ensuring that it is a business enabler
and has a positive impact on revenue.

VFS Global is compliant with the
EU General Data Protection
Regulation

Global Resilience Centre - Mumbai, India

Global Resilience Centre - Dubai, UAE

1Client governments and customers expect
easy access to our services, straightforward
answers to all their questions, and above all,rapid turnaround of their applications.

We aim to deliver consistent, best-in-classexperience across channels thereby
enhancing customer satisfaction, loyalty, andbrand sentiment.

CUSTOMER-CENTRIC SERVICE

Our approach to provide a best-in-classcustomer experience is illustrated below.

With a renewed focus on enhancing
customer experience, our aim is to provide
reliable, timely, accurate and quality
Customer Care, with empathy to ourcustomers and governments at VFS Global.

1

Promoting ‘Customer First’,
our customer-centric carepromise

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VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 RESILIENCE

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2

RESILIENCE
Process Excellence

A focus on customer experience is at theheart of everything we do at VFS Global. We
approach the customer experience through a
combination of accessible technology,
training and value-added services.

3

Real-Time Support Management - Mumbai, India

Driving synergies acrossteams to resolve customer
issues3

Capturing the customers’‘Single Voice’

4Continuous improvement,
and ever-faster resolution of
any service issues

5Intuitive, customer-friendly
interface design at all ourcentres

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VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 RESILIENCE

122

CUSTOMER-CENTRIC SUCCESSIn April 2019, VFS Global won the Dubai
Quality Global Award (DQGA) and achieved 5
Stars in the Emirates Business Rating
Scheme (EBRS). We are the first and only
multi-national company to achieve EBRS
rating in the ‘Service’ sector in the United
Arab Emirates.
VFS Global was assessed as a winner
through the 9-point RADAR Assessment andManagement evaluation criteria: Leadership,
Strategy, People, Partnership & Resources,
Processes, Products & Services, People
Results, Customer Results, Society Results,
and Business Results.

ACCESSIBLE TECHNOLOGY
Visa applications through VFS Global havedoubled in the last four years. Between 2001
and 2015, they grew to 100 million, and by
2019 totalled over 200 million. We have met
this growth with innovative technology
solutions and streamlining of all our processes
and have maintained turnaround times as
defined by the Service Level Agreements(SLAs) with our client governments.

Our eVisa solution has been designed toreduce customer frictions through an
end-to-end online process, ensuring same
experience across all the devices andplatforms. We have also introduced ViVA, achatbot, which is our first digital employee.
With advanced machine-learning technology,
ViVA answers up to 93% of applicants’questions, in real time, day or night.
Leveraging technology, we are improving
operational efficiency, allowing VAC staff to
focus on customer assistance, especiallyduring peak holiday times. In collaboration
with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland,
we have developed a platform called
LIDPro™ (Location Independent Document
Processing). This tool enabled our client to
reduce the number of visa officers in St.
Petersburg from over 100, during peakseason, to 20, making the process more
efficient by optimising human resources. It
also allows digitised documents to be sent toembassies and consulates directly fordecision making, which is more convenient forour client governments. It is in use forgovernments of Finland as well as Austria,
Cyprus, the UK, and Lesotho.

We have simplified content, navigation, anddesign of our websites to accomodate morethan 130 million web sessions annually. In thisway, we direct our customers through aseamless and efficient visa application
journey.
Our digital approach has evolved organicallythrough the extensive customer research andfeedback we have received.

ViVA: Round-the-clock visa assistant!

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2

PEOPLE PROCESSES
To stay agile in a changing business world,
we use a management framework developed
at Carnegie Mellon University, called thePeople Capability Maturity Model (PCMM).
This is a robust business excellence system(see case study on the right), and within it werecently achieved Level-5 accreditation - thehighest on the scale.
PCMM has helped VFS Global in aligningvarious HR processes towards building
people capabilities for achieving businessobjectives through Competency-Based HR
Management Framework. The focal point of
the framework is Strategic Workforce
Planning.
Workforce Plans are commissioned tocontinuously improve the organization’s
readiness through various people practices
and activities such as learning anddevelopment, internal and external sourcing,engagement, and retention programmes for
key talent; or even through otherpartnerships, alliances and/or independent
contracting. Thus, all HR processes, such as
Staffing, Performance Management, Learning& Development, Talent Management arealigned towards bridging the people
capability/ competency gaps to meet thebusiness objectives.

VALUE-ADDED SERVICES
We know that people are busy, and at VFS
Global, we pride ourselves on ourentrepreneurial approach to making visa

applications easy and efficient. Optional
value-added services can be booked onlinefrom home or later at a VAC and at acustomer’s own discretion, to enhance
convenience during the application process.
In 2019, we witnessed an increased demand
for these optional value-added services.

Visa At Your Doorstep is an end-to-end visa
service conducted entirely at the customer’shome or office. It is convenient and efficient,and is especially beneficial for people living
further away from our centres.

Some customers require privacy, others
require speed, and some want a combinationof the two. Therefore, in addition to optional
services like Visa At Your Doorstep andPremium Lounge, we also facilitate Priority
and Super Priority visa application services asoffered by UKVI (United Kingdom Visa &Immigration), for people applying to the UK.
Under these services, UKVI endeavours toachive turnaround times of 5 days or 24 hours
respectively.
For working people who find it difficult to visit
a centre during business hours, we offer
Prime Time appointment slots too, to keep
their visits as short as possible. And for those
who simply cannot come to a centre until
after work, we also do offer after-hours
walk-in appointments, at an additionalcharge.
We make it clear to customers that our
optional value-added services have no impact
on visa decisions by client governments.

MEETING CHALLENGES

Another optional service is our Premium
Lounge. This is a personal service that offers
local language professionals to assist withpreparation, expedited submission, andcourier return of passports and documents.

Applications peak in holiday season generally
between April and August, as part of theannual travel cycles, and varies in the different
regions across the world. Rise in application
volumes also lead to lengthened waiting times
at the VACs. In 2020, we aim to addressthese challenges through pre-peak readinessmeasures such as capacity planning anddedicated Customer Experience Managers at
VACs.

CASE
STORY

PCMM is a structured framework to align HR
practices and action plans with our businessobjectives, thereby making us more agile inresponding to changing business needs,
including how we serve our customers at ourcentres.
One critical performance measure for VFS
Global is our ‘Voice of Customer’ (VOC).
Analysis conducted to identify key measures
impacting VOC feedback showed that
customer's time spent waiting at VACs is
important.
To address this, we implemented a
Certification/ Recertification programme forour submission officers across our VACs in
South Asia, to improve their operational
capabilities thereby reducing customers’ time
at a VAC. We also introduced a quick
feedback survey, part of our Customer
Interaction Programme (CIP), to measure thesuccess of the process.
The impact of improvement was statisticallyvalidated through the CIP scores in the VOC
feedback after successful implementation of
Certification/ Recertification programme.

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RESILIENCE
Business Continuity
At VFS Global, we know that client
governments rely on us for uninterrupted
service. To respond to potential disruptors ofany kind, we have implemented tiered
incident response plans designed to function
at the operational, tactical, or strategic level,
as appropriate. These plans are rehearsed
regularly through a series of live tests andtable-top exercises.

OPERATIONAL LEVELAt the operational level, a Premises
Emergency Management Plan (PEMP)
focuses our incident management efforts on
the safety of personnel on site, and,secondarily, on our physical assets. These
measures are to stabilise and assess
situations in emergencies like natural
disasters, breaches in security, or bombthreats, and meet industry practice.

TACTICAL LEVELAt the tactical level, our Business and Service
Continuity Plan (BSCP) is designed tomaintain our critical business processes andIT services. This is to safeguard people,
premises, utilities, equipment, and records.
The BSCP evolves in step with periodic Plan
and Risk Assessments we undertake. Since
threats are often geopolitical, we aim to
maintain service continuity by collaboratingclosely with our client governments.

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CASE
STORY

Testing service continuity measures is an
integral part of the plan. For instance, werehearse go-to responses to speed
decision-making in real events, and constantly
update the details in our response plans. We
also strive for continuous improvement in
operational collaboration.

STRATEGIC LEVELAt the strategic level, our Crisis Management
Plan (CMP) helps us support client
governments when major incidents occur.
These have included earthquakes, wherepremises have been damaged and we have
had to move operations to other locations. It isat this level that we also engage with client
governments over the possibility of civil orpolitical unrest, or incidents of terrorism.
Our Global Resilience Centre (GRC) aids ourefforts to monitor the evolving global threat
landscape continuously. The Centre analyses
situations for their potential impact andadvises on escalation where necessary. It also
assures real-time communications with all key
stakeholders internally.

The 2018 floods in Kochi, Kerala in India demanded a real-life disaster response.
When floodwaters disrupted city phones and transportation and threatened employees’ homes, the crisis
team set up a call tree. This call tree covered Operations, HR, and Corporate Security and Risk teams,
with an aim to locate and account for every member of staff, and learn who may need help.
The VACs at Kochi were undamaged, but closed for safety’s sake. The crisis team notified and updated
client missions and customers by social media. Critical appointments were diverted to VACs in nearby
cities. Alternate staff was brought in from Chennai and Bangalore to augment the Kochi team. We
organised transport for staff living outside of Kochi, and arranged accommodation for local employees
living further away from the VAC. Additionally, back-up staff was moved in from VACs in Chennai andBengaluru. Dry rations were stocked at the VACs as well. And as PIN codes were unserviceable,
passports were held under security for 72 hours, and an alternative supplier was found for doorstep
deliveries.
Due to the fast response and smooth workings of the crisis team and disaster plans, skeleton staff could
resume operations within 5 days. In spite of the chaotic post-flood conditions, planning and forethoughtmeant over the following week all Kochi operations could resume as normal.

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BEYOND COMPLIANCE
Code Of Conduct
As a pioneer and market leaderof outsourced visa and consular
services for governments
worldwide, it is our fundamental
obligation to conduct ourselvesand carry out business in themost responsible and ethicallysound manner.
Beyond the VFS Global Code of Conduct, theCompliance team is developing an Enterprise
Risk Management System (ERMS). This is aholistic, corporate approach to managing riskin all parts of the business. The ERMS aids inbetter understanding of risk, supports soundlong-term decision making, and reﬂects
overall corporate strategy.

CODE OF CONDUCTVFS Global has met the challenges of growthconsistently and successfully. The respectand market leadership we enjoy is also due tothe commitment, professionalism, andintegrity of our employees.
Abiding by the law is our baseline. We also
recognise that a proactive, ‘Beyond
Compliance’ approach is a value propositionand differentiator for generating new
business. In April 2019, we launched the VFS
Global Code of Conduct 2.0, a refreshed,broadened version of our existing code.

The VFS Global Code defines the values,
principles, and behaviours expected of every
employee. The Code is designed to help our
staff make ethical decisions in a culture of
openness and trust. It is a resource forsituations that are challenging or notpreviously encountered, and it embeds ourvalues in daily operations.
Every employee is required to complete themandatory online Code of Conduct training
module as part of the on-boarding process.
Training assesses employees’ understandingof all elements of the Code and its
applications. We test knowledge ofprocedures, reporting mechanisms for any
violations, and implications of
non-compliance.

CORE VALUES AND PRINCIPLES
Integrity, Commitment, and Entrepreneurshipare at our core. These values are spelled out
in our Code of Conduct, as are 12 practicalprinciples that place ethics at the centre ofdaily decisions. Our principles include nottolerating bribery or corruption, speaking up
to report breaches of the Code, being fair andcourteous with each other, and respecting thecultures and orientations we encounter.

SPEAK UPWe know that speaking up about an incidentof concern takes courage. That’s why we ask
our managers to create a culture of trust, inwhich employees feel that they are genuinely

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VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 BEYOND COMPLIANCE

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encouraged to be open and speak up. The
mechanisms for our Speak Up initiative are
made very clear in the Code of Conduct andon posters in our offices. Concerns can betaken to any manager, or any supervisor, or toanyone in the Compliance Committee –comprised of the Chief Executive Officer, Chief
Financial Officer, Chief HR Officer, and theHead of Compliance. We also maintain adedicated Speak Up e-mail address.
Employees can speak up anonymously oranonymity is guaranteed if they report by
name.
All Speak Up cases are assessed by theCompliance team and investigated. The Headof Compliance oversees the VFS Global Speak
Up process and reports issues raised to the
VFS Global Audit Committee, ensuring good
governance. Appropriate disciplinary action istaken (including dismissal) where staff havebreached the policy and procedure.

Our
ValuesCOMMITMENT

INTEGRITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Zero
Tolerance

to Bribery & Corruption

Speak Up!

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LAWS AND GUIDELINESVFS Global complies with all local andinternational laws where we operate or where
our client governments are. Our operations,products, and services obey the letter and thespirit of those laws. The VFS Global Code of
Conduct focuses on 9 particular areas of law(as indicated in the visual on the right side),
explains our commitment to them, andarticulates detailed employee responsibilities.
Three points emerged from our materiality
assessment (page 06) as the most important
areas for compliance and beyond complianceefforts. They are: ‘Anti-bribery andAnti-corruption’, ‘Data protection’, and‘Anti-human trafficking and slavery’.

ANTI-BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION
Our success depends on trusted relationships
with clients and customers. Allegations ofbribery or corruption could damage our
reputation as well as invite investigation.
Bribery and corruption also corrode theeconomic health of developing countries.
For these reasons and more, VFS Global
does not take part in any unethical business.
This may mean refusing new business where
we detect an integrity risk, or it may mean notusing the services of particular consultants orpartners.
We strictly require our employees to comply
with our Anti-bribery and Anti-corruption
procedures.

We conduct a due diligence on our partners,
assess bribery and corruption risks in every
area of our work, and implement controls toprevent wrongdoing. Employees are asked toreport concerns to their supervisors or
through the Speak Up channels.

DATA PROTECTION
As the world’s largest visa service provider
that handles sensitive information of millions
of applicants in 150 countries, for 64 client
governments, it has always been incumbent
on us to have a robust data protection
framework. It is crucial for us to be compliant
with the data protection regulations of all
countries we serve and operate in and inorder to be updated, we monitor thedevelopment of data protection laws of eachof these countries. This enables us to beproactive to ensure that we stay compliant to
new laws and also making sure that our
processes are eﬀective and don’t result inincreased administrative burden at the VAC
level.
VFS Global already had robust dataprotection controls even before the GDPR (EUGeneral Data Protection Regulation) cameinto eﬀect in May 2018. This corporate cultureof working with strict controls was helped byhaving attained ISO 27001 certiﬁcation for
Information Security Management Systems.
To support our data protection framework, we
also utilise sophisticated cyber security andthreat detection tools as the nature of ourbusiness demands this.

ANTI-HUMAN TRAFFICKING ANDSLAVERYVFS Global strongly opposes humantrafficking, slavery, and the use of child labour.
We know that each of these can occur inmany forms, and that our systems andcontrols against them must ensure not onlythat they do not exist within VFS Global, butthat they are absent among our suppliers, or
any other parties that work with us.
We ask our personnel to report any and allconcerns they may have about this, inside ouroperations or in our supply chain. They may
not support or deal with any suppliers orbusinesses that they even suspect are
involved in slavery or human trafficking. For
information about how we approach the UK
Modern Slavery Act, please see page 18.

AREAS OF LAW COVEREDUNDER VFS GLOBAL
CODE OF CONDUCT

2

1
Data protection andconfidentiality laws

Anti-Bribery andAnti-Corruption laws

3

4

Human rights andemployment equity laws

Anti-human trafficking
and slavery laws

65Anti-discrimination &sexual harassment laws

7

Anti-money launderingand counter terrorist
financing laws

8

Copyright laws andsoftware licensing

Taxation and financeregulations

9
Insider trading andsecurities laws

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BEYOND COMPLIANCE
International Standards

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We are a global company, and we set our standards high wherever we work. We know that our stakeholders value this. We also know that consistency in high standards has value as a business
management tool. To this end, we comply with a variety of recognised business standards, against which we are assessed or certified.

Standard, Approachor Regulation

Topic

Importance to VFS Global

ISO 9001: 2015

ISO 9000 assesses risks across all processes, and measures results. Internal audits identify process gaps, and these are addressed

Quality Management Systemthrough a continuous improvement methodology. The outcome is improved business results, including better customer service.

ISO 27001: 2013

To ensure our customer information is safe at all times, VFS Global uses its information security management system to implement

Information Security
Management
ISO 14001: 2015
Environmental Management

internationally recognised standards. As part of the process, third party reviews are conducted periodically to measure the effectivenessof our system.
We work to reduce our impact on the environment by measuring and managing greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, electronic
waste and waste to landfill. We recycle paper and are reducing plastic. We encourage our employees to develop green projects at the

System Certification

local level.

OHSAS 18001: 2007

The health and safety of every employee of VFS Global, our partners and our customers, is a top priority. From assessing VAC design to

Occupational Health and Safety

monitoring and mitigating safety and security incidents, this standard helps us comply with laws in all 150 countries where we operate,

Assessment Series

and encourages a healthy work-life balance.

CMMI SVC 1.3

To maintain a leadership position in our industry, we adopted a business excellence model, CMMI framework, to benchmark ourCapability improvement

processes against industry best practice. Having implemented the model across all our processes up to the micro level, we see

approach

improvements in all areas of the business.

People Capability Maturity

As a people-driven business, VFS Global chose PCMM as a road-map for implementing workforce practices to continuously improve

Model

employee capability. Each level of PCMM enables cultural transformation through powerful practices for attracting, developing,

GDPR

We are committed to safeguarding customer and employee privacy, ensuring data protection and maintaining information security in all

EU General Data Protection
Regulation

organizing, motivating, and retaining employees, which results in achieving our business objectives.

our processes. We comply with the European GDPR and data protection laws in all our countries of operation. We are proud to be oneof the few companies globally that was already compliant with the GDPR when it came into effect in May 2018.

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BEYOND COMPLIANCE
Local Laws
INDIA: SEXUAL HARASSMENT OFWOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE ACT
Sexual harassment, predominantly of
women, is a world-wide problem. On a
human level, it is humiliating and frightening.
It also has a negative impact on business as
it is divisive and bad for morale.
In India, the government took a strong
stance on the issue in 2013 by ratifying the
Sexual Harassment of Women in the
Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition andRedressal) Act.
Under the provisions of this Act, every
employer is now mandated to formulate andimplement an anti-sexual harassment policy
at the workplace, and to provide security for
women employees. Non-compliance canresult in a fine, and the revocation of licences
and approvals for doing business.
Selected requirements of the Act include:••••

A safe workplace
Regular workshops and awarenessprogrammes to sensitise employees
Orientation programmes for the Internal
Complaints Committee
Visible display of the list of penal
consequences of sexual harassment

VFS Global has a zero-tolerance attitude tosexual harassment. VFS Global India hasdeveloped its own Prevention, Prohibition

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and Redressal of Sexual Harassment at
Workplace Policy. This exceeds therequirements of the Act, guaranteeing that at
VFS Global India:•••

People of any gender may not beharassed
People working under any employment
arrangement may not be harassed,
whether their presence is permanent,
temporary, direct or through an agent, orvoluntary
People may not be harassed when they
are off-duty, or harassed by a third party

We also comply with the Act’s requirement toreport annually on progress and any incidents
relevant to the Act.
In addition, our VFS Global Code of Conduct
includes a dedicated section on ‘Sexual
Harassment’ in the workplace, which isapplicable to all employees worldwide.

INDIA: CORPORATE SOCIALRESPONSIBILITY
In 2014, India became the first country in theworld to make corporate social responsibility,or ‘CSR’, mandatory, by an amendment to
the Companies Act, 2013.
Under this Act, all companies above a specificnet worth, turnover, or profit are required tospend 2% of their average net profits overthree years on CSR. Project areas in which

this CSR money may be spent include
promoting education, protecting theenvironment, eradicating hunger, poverty, andgender inequality, among others. VFS Global
India invests in protecting the environment
and promoting education, in alignment with
its global CSR strategy.
Since 2014, VFS Global Services India Private
Limited has been 100% compliant with theAct, and actually exceeds the CSR
requirements by investing in sustainableprojects aligned with its focus areas. Amongother initiatives, we support a bio-gas projectin Kolar, Karnataka (India), benefitting over
8,000 families (see P. 24), and a holistic
education programme in a Mumbai Public
School serving close to 500 children.

UK: MODERN SLAVERY ACTVFS Global has a zero tolerance approach toModern Slavery within its operations andsupply chains and encourages its staff toreport related concerns and incidents using
the escalation matrix available across theorganisation.
The VFS Global Policy under the UK Modern
Slavery Act 2015 reflects the company’scommitment to acting ethically and withintegrity in all its business relationships and to
implementing and enforcing effective systems
and controls to ensure slavery and humantrafficking is not taking place anywhere in the
countries we operate in.

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VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 PEOPLE

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Gender Diversity

VFS Global wants to be an
employer of choice. Today, thatmeans more than just offering
employees a good salary, afriendly work environment, andgood training. Our people want toknow how we address the things
that will affect their futures. That’s
why integrating sustainability into
people management matters somuch to us.

DIVERSITYEMPLOYEES

Learning and development initiatives at VFS
Global are closely aligned with our businessobjectives. We give each new hire six
mandatory training modules that must becompleted within a month of joining. Topics
within these modules include the VFS Code of
Conduct, data privacy, corporate security, IT
security, and anti-bribery and corruption. (SeeBeyond Compliance pages 15 and 16).

The EMPOWER survey is conducted every
year to provide our employees with anopportunity to freely and honestly express
their views and to provide the managementwith feedback on various aspects that impact
their satisfaction levels at the workplace. In
2019, more than 6,000 employees were
eligible to participate in the survey. The overall
engagement score was 65%, an increase of
3% over 2018, which is near the top quartileof IT/ITES and higher than the median.

3
4

PEOPLE
Employees

Currently, VFS Global employs more than
11,000 people, and that figure is growing.
Respect for each other is central to ourworking culture as is personal development.
These values are important to our personnel,
and our latest annual employee engagement
survey, EMPOWER, shows consistently highscores in diversity of thought.

2

Diversity of thought is the essence of ahealthy, entrepreneurial organisation, and ourdiverse culture is an important driver of our
success. 139 nationalities work with VFS
Global, bringing the benefit of a wide variety ofworld views. Our gender balance, standing at
59% female and 41% male in 2019, shows ashift towards women, with figures of 57% and43%, respectively in 2018.

40%

60%

43%

2017

41%

59%

2019

2018

Employee
Engagement
Score

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

We don’t stop there. Because our business isfast-moving, we constantly train, and retrain,
our people in core competencies that best
match our evolving business goals. We
achieved PCMM level-5 management
certification in 2019, (see also page 13) and anaudit by KPMG shows a correlation between
this achievement and meeting our operationaltargets.

57%

67%

2017

Performance
Score

VFS Global

2017

Global IT/ITES Industry

2018

Global IT/ITESs Top Quartile Average

2019

67%

62%
56%

Global IT/ITESs Top Quartile Average

Global IT/ITES Industry

2018

65%

Global IT/ITES Industry

VFS Global

65%

60%

Global IT/ITESs Top Quartile Average

VFS Global

62%

68%

2019

65%
58%
67%

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VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 PEOPLE

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Personnel who achieve higher scores incustomer-service training, for example,
receive better feedback from client
governments and customers. Clearly, ourinvestment is paying off.
We understand that soft skills are an essential
focus for training in our business. Besides
customer service, these include
entrepreneurship, networking, relationshipmanagement, communications, andescalation management.
To support our people in soft skills, VFSGlobal has developed a range of learning
tools for every level of seniority. These
include:••Management Development Programme:
A two-week course on entrepreneurshipand focused topics in IT, HR, Financeand Business Development, with areal-time project component. Annually,
this course is taken up by top-performing
managers from across the regions who
are due for taking up leadership roles in
the organisation. In 2019, theprogramme was attended by 32
participants. Participants found that they
were indeed more effective in thinking
innovatively, and gained entrepreneurshipand leadership skills after attending.
InstaLearn: A learning combination ofvideos, on-the-job training, case studies,and experience sharing. This is especiallypractical for ongoing learning, because it
integrates with real work tasks. We offer
this in 5 languages: English, Arabic,
Russian, Mandarin, and Spanish.

•VideoTube: Our own self-paced learning
portal, full of training videos (77 so far).
These cover topics like process
knowledge, best sales practice, andcustomer service soft skills. In the first
three months, the system registered
14,500 viewings.

•

Mentoring: Focused interventions for
preparing promising managers for senior
roles in the organisation. About 50
employees went through this programmein 2019. It is envisaged that in time,these individuals will themselves bementors for rising talent.

•

Leadership Development Programme:
An advanced management course for
top-level personnel. About 25 members
from VFS Global's senior leadershipteam attend this course every year.

HEALTH AND SAFETY
Our business takes place in an office-based
environment. We ensure everyone’s
ergonomic comfort with suitable chairs andwork surfaces, correct illumination, andproper climate control. We also make sure ourfacilities are clean, and that the water is safefor drinking.
For the physical safety of our staff andcustomers, we also security-check our
premises constantly, at all locations (see‘Resilience’, page 08), and we make sure thatall staff receive security training as part of their
HR on-boarding.

MEETING CHALLENGES•

Traditional, lengthy, class-based learningis less suitable for many of today’s
employees than focused fast-track
courses in specialised skills. To address
this, beyond our digital offerings, largelyat the Submission Officer level, wepartner with a variety of colleges andinstitutes to arrange custom-built
courses, contextualised by region. One
example is the tailored MBA at the
University of Buckingham UK, for which
select employees win sponsored places.

•

Our diversity, which we feel is a company
strength, also poses challenges. Acrossthe globe, for example, ‘customer
service’ may mean many different things.
One way we have addressed varying
cultural sensitivities is by contextualizing
our digital learning offerings by region.

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Online appointment systems and visa
application websites are ‘stress-tested’ prior
the peak season to simulate the increased
data and information load on websites toensure a fast and smooth online appointment
and application process during the peakmonths of the year.

Customers rightly expect service from usthat is efficient, smooth, and friendly. We
review this constantly, focusing especially on
the challenge of keeping the quality highduring peak times. No one likes to be kept
waiting and our ethos is to respond quickly
to requests and take ownership of any
problems, should they arise.

We measure more than the speed of our
responses to customers. We also assess their
quality, through insights that come to us fromour ‘Voice of Customer’ initiative. Our
Customer Care team analyses e-mail andsocial media communications closely, andshares what they find with client governments,
wherever applicable.

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PEOPLE
Customers

Built into our Service Level Agreements withclient governments are clear targets forresponding to customer queries orcomplaints. We require that all e-mailcorrespondence within our control be closed
within seven calendar days, or within two
weeks if another party is involved. Social
media contacts are to be acknowledged
within 30 minutes, and closed within 72 hours.
For managing complaints, we use a clear
5-step Resolution Matrix, developed for justthis purpose.

2

challenges with large numbers of application
volumes, using digital and non-digitalplatforms.
While ‘Customer First’ is working behind thescenes, we’re also deploying newly recruited
Customer Experience Managers, who work
directly with the people who come into ourbusy centres. Their job is to help customers
personally with concerns, and proactively
support a smooth application process.

SOCIAL MEDIA COMMAND CENTRE(SMCC)CUSTOMER FIRSTAs part of our Customer Care proposition,
VFS Global has implemented a 24x7 real-time
Social Media Command Centre, which is
powered by ‘ONE DIRECT’, an omni-channel
platform. Implemented in November 2019,the application brings a structured approachto our customer listening, engagement, andmedia channels.

‘Customer First’ is a new initiative forenhancing our customer care culture acrossthe organisation and to address peak season

The platform will also support the phased
integration of customer feedback forms andchannels that we use at our VACs.

This will bring synergy and record the effective
handling time of customer communications
within a pre-defined Turnaround Time (TAT).
Additionally, our client governments will
benefit from the data and analytics generated
by the platform, which will enable them tostudy and assess specific feedback.

MEETING CHALLENGES
During peak season, the number ofapplications per day increases significantly. To
address the higher footfall at application
centres, we have further strengthened ourcapacity planning, adding more employees toserve customers at the VACs. DedicatedCustomer Experience (CX) Managers
supervise the customer flow and waitingtimes. Customers can address issues directly
to a CX Manager to get a resolution as early
and as fast as possible during the submission
process at a VAC.

# of customer
response
every
minute272018 242019 242017

Customer
Satisfaction

2017

Complaints
resolutions

2017

97%
2018 96%2019 95%

97%
2018 97%2019 99%

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While employees are encouraged to volunteer
their time during weekends, we also provide
two full days off for employees to volunteer forcommunity support activities. We include a
few examples of our engagement activities
below.

AKANKSHA FOUNDATIONChildren from underprivileged backgrounds
need access to education. To this end, since2015, we have supported the Shindewadi
Mumbai Public School in partnership with the
Akanksha Foundation. More than 500
students have benefitted from the programme
under our sponsorship to achieve a 100%pass rate in their 10th grade exams. This is alifeline to their future.

IFTAR MEALSIn the United Arab Emirates, across Dubai,
Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, we joined with local
VFS Global employees to raise money for
3,000 Iftar evening meals for visiting workers
who were living in field accommodation.
Together, we raised AED 30,000, and 50 of
our employees also volunteered to go to the

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4PEOPLEEngaging Stakeholders
At work, we focus on serving client
governments and customers, but our impact
on society is much wider. We take our
responsibilities towards the communities
around us seriously. Many of our employees,
customers, and suppliers live locally, and so
this is simply good business. And of course,
it’s also the right thing to do.

2

CASE
STORY

campsite and physically prepare anddistribute these meals.

APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMMEIn India, we adhere to the Government’s
Apprentice Act, which aims to ensure
apprentices/ trainees receive a stipulated leveland period of training that will equip them fora supervisory level role once complete. We
are in the process of on-boarding new
apprentices across India, in data entry roles.
These apprentices will be paid and trained
according to and/or above the measuresrequired by the Act.

SAUDIZATION
Building on the Saudi government’s
Saudization initiative, which aims to increase
employment of Saudi nationals in the private
sector, VFS encourages Saudi student interns
to opt for career paths within ourorganisation. To date, VFS Global has hired
over 60 qualified Saudi national interns. VFSGlobal’s Saudization internship programme
begins by identifying interns’ competencies
and providing training to improve their skill
sets. At the end of training, interns receive areport of their achievements.

DADOBROIn Russia, our volunteer and employee
initiatives are conducted under theInternational Volunteer Movement, DaDobro.
Supported by VFS Global, DaDobro (joining
two Russian words ‘Da’ meaning Yes and‘Dobro’ meaning Good), acts as a bridge
between the community needs andcorporates.
DaDobro fosters a socially-oriented corporate
culture and operates in 5 countries – Russia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and theUK. In 2019, our initiatives witnessed
participation from more than 700 employees
across 80+ corporates in over 50 cities.
With round-the-year activities, DaDobro
follows the ‘Good Deeds Calendar’, where
each month is dedicated to particular atheme including education, compassion,
environment, sports & wellness andanimal-welfare among others.

TAKING A STEP TOWARDS
CLEAN INDIA
Aligned with the Swachh Bharat,
Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan (Clean
India, Clean School Mission), ouremployees in India, under the recently
launched employee volunteering
programme titled ‘Champions of
Change’, took up schooltransformation drives across Mumbai,
Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru andKolkata. This initiative tied-in very wellwith our education and environment
themes, while demonstrating our
support to the national agenda. 419
volunteers took up cleaning andgreening activities at 5 schools,
benefiting more than 2,000 students
and clocking over 1,350 service
hours!

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ENVIRONMENT
Reducing Our Footprint
People, businesses, and economies need a healthy environment toprosper. At VFS Global, we aim to reduce our impact on theenvironment wherever we can. Caring for the planet is the natural thing
to do. In the short and long term, it benefits our business, our clients,and our customers.
CARBON FOOTPRINTWATER

We know that global warming is one of thebiggest challenges of our time. Scientists areclear that only by reducing carbon emissions,starting now, can we hope to keep climatechange in check.

VFS Global is conscious about consumptionof natural resources. While the nature of ourbusiness is such that we primarily consume
water for drinking and sanitation purposes
only, we feel it is important for us to conserve
water starting with the way we manage waterin our facilities.

To understand our own impact, we gather
data about our energy use. Last year, we
calculated the direct and indirect greenhousegas emissions from all our offices and VACs,
and from our business travel.
In 2019, we emitted 20,176 tonnes of CO2e,or carbon dioxide equivalent. 4,918 tonnes ofthis was from air travel, which was higher
compared to 2018 due to business growth.
The company’s business related flights areoffset and therefore carbon emission neutral.
VFS Global collaborates with the Swiss
non-profit organisation ‘myclimate’.
In 2020, we aim to develop an action plan,with targets to reduce our building emissions
in a systematic and measurable way. We will
explore purchasing renewable power for
VACs and offices. This will complement ourlong-standing commitment to offsetting ourbusiness travel.

While there cannot be a limit set for drinking
water, we have taken adequate steps toprovide guidance, training and visual
reminders to our employees on how tominimize unnecessary water use and reduce
wastage. Left over water from RO filters anddispensers is used in planters within theoffices and VACs.
Other initiatives like introduction of dry urinals
at VACs, installation of water-efficient fixturesin restrooms, hand-wash areas, or staff
rooms, and compulsory daily checks forwater leakage, among others, have helped us
significantly reduce our water usage in 2019.

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VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 ENVIRONMENT

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WASTE

RECYCLED MATERIALSVFS Global produces little waste, not being a
manufacturer. But we do produce some, andour aim is to recycle as much as possible,
measuring carefully what goes to landfills. The
amount currently is 427 tonnes, reduced from558 tonnes in 2018. In 2020, we intend to put
in place a plan to develop a company-wide
waste management strategy, starting with apilot project with removing all plastic bottles
from one of our larger VACs in the UAE.

Using recycled paper saves resources likewater and energy, and reduces landfill waste.
In 2018, we made the decision to print
Connect, our quarterly magazine for client
governments, on recycled paper. We issue
3,500 copies of the publication four times ayear. This is a good way to reduce our impact
and stimulate the market for recycledmaterial. In 2020, we will limit our print run to
1,000, to encourage more digital reading andaim to move Compass, our customer
magazine, to recycled paper.

RECYCLING
Like most office-based organisations, asignificant proportion of our waste is
end-of-life electronics and IT equipment.
Materials used in their component parts canbe toxic to soils, and must be disposed
carefully. For example, in India, we now
employ a certified waste manager to collectand dispose appropriately all our IT ande-waste. In 2018 this amounted to 640 items
properly recycled, or 3,132 kg of potentially
toxic material that did not go into a landfill.

Water Usage
cubic meters per employee

3.73 2017

cubic meters per employee

3.98 2018

cubic meters per employee

3.19 2019
GHG emission
2017

Waste

0.07
2018 0.06
2019 0.04
2017

1.86

metric tons per employee
metric tons per employee
metric tons per employee

2018

1.68
tons per employee

2019

1.82

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BIOGAS IN KOLAR NEARBENGALURU, INDIA
In some parts of the world, access to energy
is difficult, particularly for poor populations.
To help improve access to clean, efficient,and renewable energy, VFS Global has
partnered with the Swiss non-profit
organisation 'myclimate' to fund a biogas
project in Kolar, India. This project helps installbiodigesters that now produce clean energy
for the local population – about 8,000
families, or 40,000 people. Our investment
helps us offset all the carbon emissions thatour business flights generate - an amount weestimated at 4,918 tonnes in 2019.
The project benefits the people of Kolar in
multiple ways. Reduced use of kerosene and

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ENVIRONMENTGreen Initiatives 2019
firewood for cooking means the air people
breathe is cleaner now, resulting in fewer
respiratory problems. There is less pressure
on the local forests for firewood harvesting.
(The project removes the need for an
estimated 4.5 tonnes of wood per household
every year). Local women and children, who
would normally collect wood, are now free to
go to work and school – an especially
important change, because educating girls isknown to be one of the best ways ofenhancing economic development andtackling climate change. Farmers benefit too,because they can use waste slurry from thebiogas system as a soil improver, and do notneed to buy chemical fertilisers. And ofcourse, greenhouse gas emissions are down,
there being fewer wood fires in people’s
homes.

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VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 ENVIRONMENTEMPLOYEE INITIATIVES
Learning to care for the environment requires
culture and habit changes. VFS Global puts
great effort into creating hands-on
conservation projects for our employees allaround the world. These projects are also
excellent for team-building. In 2019, ourpeople took part in over 60 community andenvironmental activities. Three of these were
inspired by VFS Global employees in Russia,
India, and China

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USED SHOE COLLECTION DRIVE
MUMBAI, INDIA
Many of us take shoes for granted, and forgetthat those without this basic necessity are
faced with significant physical and culturaldisadvantages. For this reason, we organiseda Used Shoe Collection Drive in Mumbai,
India. Collected shoes were upcycled by
Greensole, a non-profit specialising in making
refurbished shoes from old soles – with zerocarbon footprint. Refurbished shoes were
given to children in need. Our efforts helped
put shoes on their feet and also offset about
300 kg of CO2 that would have been emitted
from manufacturing new shoes.

SOAPS FROM WASTE
BEIJING, CHINA

APPLES FOR BATTERIESRUSSIA AND EASTERN EUROPE
Because batteries contain toxic materials,
damaging to soils and waterways, welaunched a battery collection drive across 35
cities in Russia, Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan,
Cyprus, and Romania. In total, we saw to theproper disposal of 2,400 kg of used batteries.
And the result? We calculate that 960,000
litres of water and 48,000 square metres ofland were not contaminated by dumping thesebatteries into landfills. All those who brought inused batteries were presented with a green
apple as recognition for their contribution.

It’s never easy to know what to do with theremnants of a bar of soap. But 45 people
from our Beijing VFS team found out when
they joined a local GoZeroWaste initiative andlearned how to make soap out of gathered
waste material. The project was enlightening
for everyone involved, and it helped raise
public awareness of just how much we cando to live more responsibly on our planet.

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ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION
Business Beneﬁt to the Society
Travel is a catalyst that has thepotential to impact lives in
multiple ways. It generates
economic growth and work
opportunities globally, even inremote and inaccessible areas.
Through employment, training, supporting
local businesses, and our tax contributions,
we support people and the economies of thecommunities and countries where we
operate.
We employ over 11,000 people in 150
countries, providing valuable income to staﬀ
and their families. Indirectly, we make ﬁnancial
contributions to a large ecosystem of service
providers such as couriers, drivers, and othersupport staﬀ who help us keep our businessrunning smoothly.
The positive impact of VFS Global on
emerging economies is strong. Our learningand development programmes provide
employees with training that’s highly valued,
especially where access to further education
can be expensive. Local travel agents inparticular beneﬁt from the opportunity wecreate. They provide visa application
preparation services to support customers
before they arrive at a VAC. In certain
countries such as Lesotho and Zimbabwe,
we have a direct impact on creating
opportunities for those eager to work. Herewe collaborate with governments to facilitate

VFS Global is committed to contribute within
its range of inﬂuence and beyond to limit
these impacts as much as possible.

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VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION

work permits, enabling thousands to support
themselves and their families.
Our business, providing outsourced visa
application and consular services to client
governments and customers, is eﬃcient anddelivers high levels of customer satisfaction,
see more page 04. It helps to give more
people the opportunity to move between
countries - in itself a powerful economic
driver. According to WTTC (World Travel &Tourism Council), in 2018, travel and tourism
contributed USD 8.8 trillion to the world
economy, creating 319 million jobs across theglobe, with a forecast of 400+ million jobs tobe created by 2029. On the other hand, we
recognise that travel growth can havedownsides such as environmental impacts.

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11,000+EMPLOYEES

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VFS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2019 ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONTAX AS A KEY ECONOMIC
CONTRIBUTOR TO THE SOCIETY

4,204 JOBSCREATED IN 201930 MILLION+APPLICATIONSPROCESSED IN 2019

TAXATION APPROACH
As a company, we are committed to ethicalbusiness practices and to respecting local
laws in the territories where we operate, andthis has a direct bearing on our approach totaxation. We are committed to compliancewith the tax laws and practices in the
countries in which we operate and have
implemented robust governance processes toenable us to do so. Based on pre-determinedguidelines, escalation mechanisms are inplace within the company with respect to key
tax matters / risks, including reporting to theChief Executive Oﬃcer or Chief Financial
Oﬃcer of the company, or the Audit
Committee or the Board, as required. The
company has always maintained acooperative and collaborative relationship with
tax authorities and will continue to do so.

ATTITUTE TOWARDS TAX PLANNING
All tax risks are identiﬁed and considered
before concluding on any business decision.
The tax decisions are made in response tocommercial activity and tax is just one ofmany factors taken into consideration when
making such decisions. It is our endeavour to
use automated technology to track tax related
compliances in various operating jurisdictions
and also modify, alter, and create technology
used in operations for easy and accurate
implementation of tax reforms, wherever
possible.

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TAX RISK MANAGEMENT
We have a minimal tax risk tolerance as acompany. We are committed to compliancewith the tax laws and practices across all thecountries we operate in, and continuously
monitor changes to tax legislation, ensuringthat we take advice where appropriate fromprofessional advisers. The level of tax risk that
we accept is driven by our overarching values,
brand, and reputation. We routinely seek
professional advice where specialist tax
knowledge is required.

For more information, please write to us atcommunications@vfsglobal.com
or visitwww.vfsglobal.com

Editor: One Stone Advisors UK / Corporate Communications, VFS Global
Designs: Design Studio, VFS Global
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