An international investigation by Lighthouse Reports alleges the world’s largest visa outsourcing company built profit growth on services applicants felt pressured to buy.
KARACHI: VFS Global, which operates the largest outsourced visa-processing company working for 71 governments around the world, is under heavy scrutiny from its reputation and regulatory perspective due to the recent international investigation conducted by Lighthouse Reports together with 14 media partners, according to which the company systematically encouraged visa applicants to enroll into paid “optional” add-on packages. This investigation, which constitutes the most detailed probe into privately run visa processing systems yet to be published, brings up crucial issues relating to how outsourced visa-processing systems deal with applicants coming from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
The results hold direct and personal relevance for the citizens of Pakistan, who are some of the most thoroughly vetted visa applicants globally. Being one of the least travel-friendly countries globally makes it necessary for Pakistani visa applicants to apply through VFS Global in many instances, giving them little power in situations where upselling is attempted at their point of service.
How the Company Managed to Generate Revenue from the Additional Services
According to the findings of the Lighthouse Report investigations, the financial structure of VFS Global involves much more than the collection of the basic processing fees. The use of additional services, such as text message updates, documents couriered back by the applicant, use of lounge, etc., constitutes another source of income that is hard for applicants to refuse according to the investigations.
According to an analysis of over 2,000 visa receipts gained from freedom of information, it was established by Lighthouse Reports that the income earned from additional services made up roughly 30% of VFS Global earnings in the time frame considered. An increase in profits of VFS Global was noted between 2017 and 2024 due in part to paid additional services offered.
The importance of that comes down to the fact that this is precisely what created the framework for the incentives, which according to the investigation influenced the behavior of the employees working on-site. It is no coincidence that when a large percentage of the company’s income comes from its optional services, the need to offer them becomes inherent to the company culture irrespective of the managers’ orders to do so.
Sales Targets Were Set For Staff Based On Add-On Earnings
The findings by the Lighthouse Report were based on testimonies provided by former and current employees of VFS Global in various countries, indicating that the firm created sales pressure within its ranks despite describing its add-ons as voluntary in its marketing strategy. The Lighthouse Report reveals that sales target for employees in certain locations were linked to the sales earnings obtained on a monthly basis from these add-on products.
However, other former employees took it one step further and accused the agency of including fees for services not requested by the applicant in the total bill, without receiving proper consent, an act which, if true, would make this behavior more of consumer fraud rather than merely aggressive marketing. The report suggested that the result of this was applicants regularly paying far more than what was actually needed for processing their visas.
For Pakistani applicants who are already paying higher-than-normal visa application fees considering their income levels, and have high rates of rejection, the uncertainty surrounding required and optional costs is a material financial cost which exacerbates an already existing system of discrimination.
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Confusion and Forced Purchases Among Applicants
Applicants who have been interviewed in several different countries as part of the Lighthouse Reports probe have all expressed an experience of being confused and compelled practically to purchase additional services. While some claimed they were simply confused about whether certain services would be necessary to their visa application and therefore had no option but to pay for those extra services, others claimed they felt forced to pay for certain services simply because there was no other practical option.
This investigation has characterized the process as making the applicants a captive audience – which is especially telling since the applicants involved are from countries whose passports have limited power. When it is already a tough situation just applying for a visa, then the term “optional” is meaningless when considering the consequences of not paying the extra fees. Applicants from countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and those like them do not have the leverage that someone from countries like Germany or Canada would bring into the negotiations.
Data Handling, Bribery Claims, and the DRC Case
Apart from claims of the coercive nature of the optional fees, there were two other issues identified by the Lighthouse Reports investigation that were of grave consequence.
In terms of data protection, the investigation revealed that specialists who analyzed the cases noted that some actions were major data protection issues, an observation which is particularly crucial considering the fact that the applicants of visas provide highly personal information such as biometric, financial, and travel data as well as information about family relations via VFS Global systems.
On corruption, the allegations by the investigators suggested that the applicants in certain countries may have been subjected to threats related to the influence of foreign entities and possible bribe-taking. In one such recorded incident, according to sources, a video clip had caught a VFS employee in the Democratic Republic of Congo taking credit for guaranteeing the issuance of the visa through a high payment – clearly an act of corruption that undermines the integrity of the visa process.
VFS Global denied all claims related to these categories. VFS Global said to Lighthouse Reports that there was no truth in the claim that its financial growth had been the result of any wrongdoings. Optional services are offered clearly and there is no obligation on visa issuance, and visas cannot be granted by VFS Global but by embassies only.
The Government Has Outsourced the Problem but Not the Responsibility
The investigation conducted by The Lighthouse Reports is critical of governments that have outsourced the responsibility of processing visas to VFS Global despite failing to institute any form of oversight systems that can help guard the interests of applicants. According to the report, European governments knew about the grievances for a long time yet failed to respond appropriately.
The deficiency in oversight stems from a flaw in the institutional structure of visa outsourcing. Administrative savings for governments were achieved by delegating processing responsibilities to a private party. The applicants would directly foot the bill for dealing with the commercial intermediary. This chain of accountability that ought to flow from the government to the applicant through the intermediary processing facility set up by the government was now diluted through a corporation whose priorities might not be aligned with that of the applicants.
