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<p><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">This is a contractor,
so it is not a government office. The U.S. government does this
also in high-volume consular districts. Application is made
through a contractor, though the interview takes place in the
consulate. Office=visa_application would be more accurate,
since visa adjudication still takes place in the consulate.</font><br>
</p>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 11/8/2018 12:37 PM, Johnparis wrote:<br>
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<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAEVvu1OLGdcFPuauDBH3cJqwncaLo+bKhH8sT5YPMWu=yh90HQ@mail.gmail.com">
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<div>I tagged one of these office=visa the other day.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><a href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/4374770543"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/4374770543</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The offices I'm thinking of are private companies that
have government contracts to provide services that the
government itself would normally provide. In many cases
they are indistinguishable from a government office, so
the question of verifiability enters my mind. <br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>For instance, the UK visa office in Paris has big signs
outside and inside reading "Welcome to Great Britain". I'm
frankly not sure if the space is rented by the UK or by
TLS Contact, which holds the contract. <br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><a href="https://corp.tlscontact.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://corp.tlscontact.com</a><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Their staff members gather the information for your
application, including fingerprints, photos, etc., as well
as your passport. They then seal this in a clear plastic
container. After it is sealed, you cannot add or remove
anything. The fee is set by the UK and paid to TLS
Contact. <br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The dossier then goes to London, where a decision is
made on your visa and the entire dossier is returned to
Paris. You pick it up next door to the original office
from someone behind bulletproof glass. (You don't learn
the nature of the decision till you look at your
passport.) This is the only way to get a UK visa in Paris.
If you go to the UK Embassy or Consulate, they will direct
you to the visa office.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Is this an "office=government"? It certainly is
quasi-governmental. Do they provide visa services? Surely
yes, in my mind. In fact, they are the only place in Paris
that provide visa services for the UK. If you want to get
any kind of visa -- long term (expat), tourist, transit --
that's where you go.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>So (agreeing with John Willis) I'd say office=visa for
these.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>John<br>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr">On Thu, Nov 8, 2018 at 6:16 AM John Willis
<<a href="mailto:johnw@mac.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">johnw@mac.com</a>> wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="auto">Is the office full of people who you pay
to help you apply? Or are they contracted to be the
front-otfice of the agency (acceptance &
distribution)? Â
<div><br>
</div>
<div>It seems to be the latter. <br>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Think of taxes. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The office where you submit taxes, and an
office where a professional helps you prepare the
forms are two different places. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Office=tax_preparation and office=tax are
different. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>If this is some office (public or private) with
an official mandate to accept applications and
distribute visas (whether approved onsite
immidately or approved elsewhere and mailed to the
office for distribution), that does sound like
office=visa. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>If it is some private business who you pay to
help you prepare the form, and you mail it to the
government and get your visa directly, it sounds
like office=visa_preperation or
office=immigration_lawyer. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I am unfamiliar with the situation you
described - so please choose the best tag that
suits your needs. </div>
<div><br>
<div
id="gmail-m_-3791470022835594697AppleMailSignature"
dir="ltr">Javbw</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
On Nov 8, 2018, at 11:37 AM, Eugene Alvin Villar
<<a href="mailto:seav80@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">seav80@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
<br>
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<blockquote type="cite">
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<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr">On Thu, Nov 8, 2018 at 9:29
AM Warin <<a
href="mailto:61sundowner@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">61sundowner@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<div
class="gmail-m_-3791470022835594697m_-1229484233847258740moz-cite-prefix">
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">On Nov 7,
2018, at 7:12 AM, Warin <<a
href="mailto:61sundowner@gmail.com"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">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">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">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">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">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"></span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
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>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite">
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