Brussels, 14/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - Since 7 May, France, Germany and Italy have been operating a sort of joint Consulate in Dubai to speed up visa application procedures from Dubai and the Northern Emirates. This joint centre, operated by Indian company VFS Global, a subsidiary of Kuoni Travel Group, Zurich, will gather and check visa applications and then send them to the appropriate Consulate, which will continue to decide whether visas should be granted. Visa applications will be accepted for trips to France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Malta and Slovenia. The Netherlands and Sweden are expected to join this initiative shortly. While this is the first such venture in the Middle East, similar centres already exist elsewhere in the world. In 2007, the very first was opened in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. A second centre was then opened in Podgorica in Montenegro. Outsourcing of visa handling by private companies has become increasingly common, with such companies taking over the administrative and general visa application activities, so that diplomatic missions can concentrate on the key stages of the process - file assessment and maintenance. VFS Global, for example, works with 23 diplomatic missions in 42 countries and handles 6 million visa applications per year. (B.C.)