Home Office Visa Services
The International Group is seeking commercial partners to provide a range of services related to the provision and management of visa application and associated services globally.
UK-London: supporting services for the government
2012/S 41-066775
Prior information notice
Services
Directive 2004/18/EC
Section I: Contracting authority
Home Office (UK Border Agency/International Group)
2nd floor, Seacole Building 2, Marsham Street
For the attention of: Victor Odubanjo
SW1E 4DF London
UNITED KINGDOM
Telephone: +44 2070351970
E-mail: NextGenVisas@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Internet address(es):
General address of the contracting authority: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk
Address of the buyer profile: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk
Further information can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)
Section II.B: Object of the contract (Supplies or services)
Globally.
The scope of the contract will enable the provision of visa application services globally.
Estimated cost excluding VAT:
Range: between 100 000 000,00 and 300 000 000,00 GBP
Lots
This contract is divided into lots: no
75130000, 64100000, 66172000, 72313000, 79512000
Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information
Section VI: Complementary information
The International Group is seeking commercial partners to provide a range of services related to the provision and management of visa application and associated services globally. These services include (but are not limited to): biometric services; courier services; and document handling services.
The scope of the contract will enable the provision of visa application services globally.
The visa application process broadly comprises three primary activities, as follows:
— Part 1 – application process.
Performed in a Visa Application Centre (VAC).
—— Biometric enrolment,
—— Document registration,
—— Courier service – document dispatch to Document Management Centre,
—— Assessment.
— Part 2 – document handling process.
Performed in a Document Handling Centre (DHC).
—— Examination and authentication,
—— Document scanning,
—— Document storage,
—— Vignette / refusal notice printing,
—— Courier service – document dispatch to Visa Application Centre / applicant.
— Part 3 – decision making process.
Performed in a Decision Making Centre (DMC).
—— UKBA evaluation and decision making.
The focus of the procurement will be solely on parts 1 and 2 of the visa process as decision making will always be retained by the UKBA.
The services to be procured will include the capture of applicants’ biometric information and the receipt, registration and verification of visa application documents. These front-end services will support the UK Border Agency’s visa approval process and interface with the appropriate in-house technology systems. The global nature of the document and information flows will require a degree of courier, document handling and storage, scanning and printing facilities.
The scope of services and contract duration is being determined but may take the following form. It is expected that the following services will commence as early as 2014 and some may be introduced gradually until 2016. There may also be country and regional variants for some of these services. The contract duration is expected to be between 5 to 7 years.
Services Scope and description:
1. Biometric enrolment and document registration: capture of applicant’s biometric details and registration of application;
2. Courier services: dispatch of application documents to document handling centres and return of these documents (including return directly to applicants);
3. Document handling services: DHC performing document tracking, storage, scanning and printing services for global or in-region/country applications. The DHC may comprise a large/central facility and several smaller DHCs in global locations.
Supplier Open-Day(s):
Suppliers are invited to express an interest in obtaining further information about the project and attending a Supplier Open Day currently targeted for April 2012. There is the possibility that a further Supplier Open Day may be scheduled after that day to provide further information to prospective suppliers.
VI.4)Date of dispatch of this notice:27.2.2012