Four weeks after VFS Global suspended Indian passport, visa and OCI services across Australia, migration law firm Collins Quarters issued a detailed client memo on 22 July explaining what the stand-off means for Australian visa applicants who still rely on Indian documents. The disruption stems from a Delhi High Court decision that voided the Ministry of External Affairs’ outsourcing tender. With VFS’s previous contract expiring on 30 June, no provider was legally authorised to operate, forcing an immediate shutdown of passport renewal, police-clearance certificates (PCCs) and OCI processing in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. India’s Supreme Court has since allowed an interim arrangement but a restart date is pending while a fresh tender is drafted. Collins Quarters stresses that Australian visa applications filed through ImmiAccount continue unaffected; the bottleneck arises only if applicants need an Indian PCC, renewed passport or attested corporate documents as supporting evidence. The firm recommends requesting deadline extensions from the Department of Home Affairs, retaining proof of the VFS shutdown, and avoiding duplicate submissions. Companies moving Indian assignees to Australia should audit pending cases: any employee whose passport expires before grant, or who needs a fresh PCC for a partner or skilled-visa stage, may face processing pauses of several weeks. Alternative work-arounds include front-loading Indian PCCs from police authorities in India (where feasible) or using e-visas for short-term travel until documents are available.
Source: Collins Quarters (legal blog)
