Visa and consular services provider BLS International, is eyeing a significant pie of the global outsourced visa market, which is dominated by Blackstone-backed VFS Global. BLS plans to bid aggressively for tenders worth $2 billion opening up.

Shikhar Aggarwal, joint managing director of BLS International, said, “Outsourcing players provide efficiency, reduce government costs, enable higher volumes, and enhance customer experience; thereby benefiting the governments. Visa outsourcing is also witnessing a rise due to advancements in automation, AI-powered verification and biometric authentication, which reduce processing time while enhancing security.”

BLS currently has a market share of 17 per cent in the outsourced visa services segment.

The outsourced visa market is projected to grow annually at 14 per cent to touch $3.2 billion by 2029 from $1.7 billion in 2024. Overall, the global visa market, which stood at $ 5.4 bn in 2024, is expected to reach 7.7 billion by 2029, growing at annually at 7 per cent.

As governments across the globe look to reduce operational costs and streamline application processes, they are increasingly relying on visa services outsourcing companies.

For scaling up its visa outsourcing business, BLS International has charted out an aggressive bidding strategy for new upcoming tenders and recruit experienced resources and train them around AI and technology to strengthen its bidding.

The global visa outsourcing market is set to see $2 billion worth of tenders opening up, and the company plans to bid for contracts worth over $1 billion in the next six months.

The growth strategy also includes identifying and entering new markets where demand for visa outsourcing services is growing or untapped, and continuing to assess the regulatory landscape, market dynamics, and competitive landscape in potential target regions before entering new markets.

Aggarwal said that across the world, governments are becoming more stringent in their policies. “In the short term, we might be seeing some impact, but volumes continue to grow in the long term. We are experiencing high growth in tourist visas even as other segments are facing policy-related issues.”

According to industry estimates the tourist visa segment is seen capturing 70 per cent of the overall pie by 2029, even as other segments – study visa, business visa and work visa – would shrink in the same period.

With the rising demand for outsourced visa services, BLS International is confident of sustaining a 20–30 per cent annual growth trajectory in the coming quarters.

“Despite the global headwinds, our business model is uniquely resilient—both visa outsourcing and citizen services are essential, government-authorised, and user-pay in nature. This makes them relatively insulated from broader economic cycles and geopolitical headwinds. Before COVID-19, we had achieved the highest profitability of ₹100 crores. In FY24, we did around ₹350 crores of net profit. In FY25, we have clocked a net profit of ₹539.6 crore. So, we have been growing continuously, and we want to maintain this pace. We also have ₹1,000 crore net cash in our books, which makes our company financially strong,” Aggarwal added.

BLS International is pursuing both organic and inorganic growth strategies. Its organic growth strategy focuses on expanding the global presence, leveraging technology, and winning new contracts, while the inorganic growth strategy includes exploring potential mergers and acquisitions.

Published on July 1, 2025