THE Italian Consulate in Johannesburg will from November 1 outsource certain visa issuing tasks to Sandton-based Capago South Africa, an agency set up a year ago to provide outsourced services to such diplomatic missions as the French Consulate in Johannesburg.
Capago will be responsible for the collection, verification and submission of documents and return of the passport and visa to applicants.
Applicants will be able to visit the existing www.italianconsulatejohannesburg.org as well as Capago’s http://www.my-europe-visa.com website for full details, although the Consulate website will automatically redirect to the My Europe Visa site.
Through the outsourced service, it should now take only 48 hours (even in peak periods) for an appointment to be granted and only one week for applicants to receive their visa and passport back should everything be in order. The turnaround time for issuing visas may also depend on the type of visa requested. Applicants will still have to appear at Capago’s offices in person.
Says Capago ceo, Paul Cabane: “In our premises, the latest equipment (e.g. ticket dispenser) ensures efficiency in visa processing, which means no queuing and saves the applicant time and money.
“Capago also offers VIP service, delivery and free support access to physically impaired applicants as well as group desks access for travel agencies.”
According to Paul, an online chat facility has also been launched allowing applicants to enquire about their visa applications.
The outsourcing to Capago will take place in phases: Johannesburg on November 1, Cape Town on December 1, Durban from January 1 and the Pretoria Embassy from February 1.
Capago’s Durban premises, says Paul, will add value as the Italian Consulate was closed last year. “The Durban office will be linked to the Italian Consulate in Johannesburg which means that applicants will not need to personally appear in Johannesburg.”
Refer to TNW October 26 for more details.
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