New visa processing centre in Qatar will lead to Irish economic benefits

A new Irish visa processing centre in Qatar will lead to economic benefits for Ireland, the Irish ambassador to the Gulf state has said, writes Pádraig Hoare.

Residents of Qatar can now apply for visas to Ireland at a centrally-located Visa Application Centre launched in Doha by the Embassy of Ireland in partnership with VFS Global.

Qatar is the second country in the Gulf region after Kuwait where a VFS Global Visa Application Centre has been launched for enhanced convenience to applicants.

Ambassador Patrick Hennessy said that with Ireland being a popular destination for tourism, business and higher education, travellers from Qatar will benefit from customer-centric and streamlined services offered at the centre.

“I believe the Centre will be warmly welcomed and will contribute to enhancing the ties between Ireland and Qatar. Taking advantage of this new facility, I expect a significant increase in the number of Qatar residents travelling to Ireland for business, education and tourism,” he said.

He added: “With Qatar Airways due to begin a direct Doha-Dublin service in June, the timing could not be better.”

VFS Global has been serving the Irish Government since 2004, and currently serves it in 13 countries from 43 visa application centres globally.

The company has been operating visa processing services in Qatar since 2005, and today serves nine client governments in the country.