Agents can fast track visa

HANOI  The French Embassy in Vietnam has signed an agreement to partner with six Vietnamese travel agents to establish a fast track process for issuing visas to their travel clients.
The six agents are Hanoi Red Tour, Naci Travel, Hanoi Iso Tours and Hanoi Tourist, as well as South Pacific Travel and Vietfoot Travel.
The agreement signing ceremony, held in Hanoi, last Wednesday, was attended by Jean-Noel Poirier, French Ambassador to Vietnam; Matthias Fekl, French Secretary of State for Foreign Trade; Nguyen Ngoc Son, Vietnamese Ambassador to France; and representatives of six Vietnamese travel companies.
This is the first time that France has signed a deal with Vietnamese tour firms regarding its visa granting policy, local media reported.
inside no 5The agreement will simplify the visa application procedures for the six companies’ clients who have bought travel to France as well as reduce the queues and delays at the embassy.
The deal allows groups of applicants to make priority appointments with the French Embassy, and introduces simplified paperwork for those who have visited Europe several times before.
The move is intended to deal with a sharp rise in Vietnamese tourists to France over the past two years, the report said.
A total of 24,269 visas were granted to Vietnamese applicants last year, up by 28.7% compared to 2013.

sourced:ttrweekly.com