<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Thu, Nov 8, 2018 at 9:29 AM Warin <<a href="mailto:61sundowner@gmail.com">61sundowner@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<blockquote type="cite">On Nov 7, 2018, at 7:12 AM, Warin <<a href="mailto:61sundowner@gmail.com" target="_blank">61sundowner@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<div><blockquote type="cite"><span style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none;float:none;display:inline!important">1) this is a commercial firm - not a
government authority/branch/department/etc</span><br style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none"><div>
<span style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none;float:none;display:inline!important">2) it 'assist' people to obtain a
visa</span><br style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none">
<span style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none;float:none;display:inline!important">3) it is not at an
airport/seaport/boarder</span><br style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none">
<span style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none;float:none;display:inline!important">4) the visa is obtained before
travel commences.</span><br style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none"><span style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:13px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none;float:none;display:inline!important"></span></div></blockquote></div></blockquote>
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It is an office you go to. You present documents, they ask
questions, you answer, you pay a fee, <br>
the office fills out forms using that information provided (and they
then send it off to an embassy/consulate) <br>
and then some time later you get a visa back from the office (but
the visa itself is actually from the embassy/consulate). <br>
<br>
In the above situation, what is wrong with office=visa ? You apply
to the office, they (usually) get you a visa. <br>
</div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Here, the Japanese consulate never accepts direct visa application and instructs people to only submit visa applications through accredited travel agencies.</div><div><br></div><div>On the other hand, many European consulates here contract a 3rd-party visa processing company such as the aforementioned VFS Global to handle all visa applications. These companies even have equipment to collect biometric data such as photographs and fingerprints that will be forwarded to the consulates together with the visa applications.</div><div><br></div><div>I would think that the first case should be tagged like other travel agencies because visa handling is just one of their services (they also arrange tours and purchase airline tickets). For the second case, they do nothing else besides processing visa applications on behalf of the contracting consulates. So they are not travel agencies. I think they should indeed be tagged with something like office=visa or better yet office=visa_processing so it is clearer.</div><div> <br></div></div></div>