ĐÀ NẴNG — A new joint visa application centre for Belgium, Germany and Italy in Đà Nẵng was officially launched yesterday.

The centre, situated on the 5th floor of the ACB Bank building at 218 Bạch Đằng Street, will facilitate tourists and residents from Việt Nam and the three European countries applying for tourism and investment visas.

The launch ceremony was held in the presence of Paul Jansen, ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium, Andreas Siegel, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany and Andrea Zampolli, head of the visa section at the Consulate General of Italy in HCM City.

The number of visa applications for the Schengen area in Việt Nam has increased significantly over the years. Việt Nam is booming economically and this translates in a greater travel demand, not only for business trips but also for leisure.

The new joint visa application centre in the coastal central city offers applicants the convenience of applying closer to home or work.

The other two VFS Global visa application centres in Việt Nam are located in HCM City and Hà Nội.

The opening of the modern centre in Đà Nẵng aims to improve the quality of services for visa applicants.

This service will cover all steps of the application process, from providing information about visa regulations to other advanced services such as tracking the status of applications via SMS, translation of documents and courier services.

In 2016, a joint United Kingdom and Australia centre was also inaugurated at the ACB building.

It means that applicants in central Việt Nam no longer have to travel to either Hà Nội or HCM City to apply for visas to European Union countries.

Russia, Laos, Spain and China have opened consulate offices in the city, while Japan also plans to open an office in January of 2020.

South Korea’s Trade-Investment Promotion Agency opened a representative office in Đà Nẵng in January of 2019, and Korea plans to set up a consulate office in the city to host increasing numbers of investors and tourists. VNS