Outbound rush: Visa applications in India breached 2019 levels last year, says VFS Global

NEW DELHI: Visa applications from India have finally surpassed the pre-Covid 2019 levels last year by 4%, VFS Global said Monday. Industry sources say about 65 lakh visa application were filed in India in 2019 and since then the number was yet to touch that mark. But in 2024, the same touched about 67.6 lakh.
While the number of Indians travelling abroad is now much higher than 2019 levels, foreigners coming to India (inbound) is yet to recover. According to Union tourism ministry data, CY 2024 saw almost 96.6 lakh foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) — a mute 1.4% higher than 2023’s 95.2 lakh but still 11.6% lower than 2019’s 1.1 crore.
On the other hand, Govt data shows the number of Indians travelling abroad was over 3 crore in CY 2024 — 8.4% more than 2023’s 2.8 crore and 12.3% more than 2019’s 2.7 crore. The Indian travel industry has been waiting for inbound recovery but that is yet to happen. While the developments in Bangladesh — India’s biggest source country for inbound — dealt a further blow to the delayed recovery, the industry says the FTA estimates need a relook as the same include the large Indian diaspora coming home for various reasons and the growing expat community that now works in the country.
“Apart from them, Bangladesh is the largest source country for foreign arrivals and a vast majority of them come here to work. So in reality the foreign tourist numbers is only a fraction of the FTA numbers,” Rajiv Mehra, president of inbound tour operators association IATO, had recently told TOI.
Meanwhile, VFS said the popular destinations for Indian travellers last calendar year included Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherland, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, US and UK. “India continues to show a strong demand for international travel, and it’s clear that this robust momentum will persist in 2025. We encourage applicants to apply for their visas well in advance to avoid the last-minute rush and ensure a smooth travel experience,” said Yummi Talwar, VFS Global COO (South Asia).
Talwar stressed that applicants should avoid counterfeit websites and fake social media pages claiming to be VFS Global. “Appointments are free and available only through www.vfsglobal.com on a first-come, first-served basis. We continue to raise awareness about this issue and urge applicants to plan their travel early.” VFS Global partners with 52 sovereign governments in India and provides visa services on their behalf through a network of over 560 visa application centres spread across 19 cities.