BLS International is a publicly traded company based in India. BLS International has an exclusive contract in Canada to process visa applications for travel to India. It has offices in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Brampton, Winnipeg, Surrey, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver, according to its website.

BLS International has overwhelmingly demonstrated its inability to process and handle visa applications in an efficient and timely manner. BLS International is also unable to effectively communicate with applicants about the requirements and current status of their applications, as well as to keep them informed if more paperwork is required to expedite further processing. It takes several days to receive a reply through email from BLS and the sender's name is never mentioned in the email. Its call centre is located in India whereas all the documents are kept in Canada causing a disconnect between two offices when it comes to inquiring about the status of one's application. Most of the time there is a long wait when you call. Upon calling, the only information that is asked from the applicant is their name and passport number, which raises privacy concerns for applicants.

Instead of contacting the applicant to correct the original applications, BLS International resorts to asking for new applications with additional fees and courier charges. For example, they would ask the applicant to resubmit the application for surrender of the Indian passport over a minor error even when they have the passport in their possession. It appears that they are more concerned about the application and additional fees and courier charges instead of having the correct information on file. They also quote different prices for courier services at different times. They discourage the applicant from using their own courier services and do not allow the applicant to bring documents in person.

BLS International also discourages visa applicants from visiting their office and sells courier services at exorbitant prices, sometimes exceeding ten times the typical cost. The wait for an appointment with a BLS International officer in Vancouver has been 6 to 8 weeks. They also charge for express courier service when in fact the documents are not reviewed for weeks.

BLS International customer service employees have also been reported to show lack of respect and empathy towards applicants.

Through this petition, we request the Prime Minister of India, the Minister of External Affairs of India, The High Commissioner of India to Canada and all the Consulates General of India in Canada to remove BLS International as the exclusive provider of visa processing services to people seeking to visit India, and instead contract a reliable and customer-friendly business organization with a proven track record to provide these services in Canada.