Seafarers Can Get Denmark Crew Visas Onboard as Service Passes 3,000 Cases

A mobile visa service that brings document checks and biometric enrolment directly to ships has processed more than 3,000 applications for maritime crews, according to VFS Global, the company that runs the service and handles visa applications for 71 governments. Much of the work relates to Denmark visa applications for seafarers and offshore workers.

Key facts

• 3,000+ applications processed through the at-sea and in-port visa service
• Service offered to shipping and other maritime-sector companies at sea and in ports
• Applications cover Denmark crew visas and other maritime-sector cases
• Full process — document submission, form checking, biometric enrolment — completed on board
• Applicants keep their passports while the application is decided

What is the service?

The offering, called Visa at your Doorstep, has been available since 2019. It allows a visa applicant to complete every stage of the process — submitting documents, having forms checked and giving biometric data such as photographs and fingerprints — at a home, office or other chosen location instead of a physical visa application centre. It was first launched on land, including for short-notice business applications.

For maritime clients, VFS Global staff travel to the vessel's docking location rather than asking workers to come ashore. When ships are outside port, staff have reached vessels at sea by helicopter to deliver the service.

Why was it created?

The shipping-company solution was introduced during the COVID period, after Hafnia Law Firm approached VFS Global about seafarers and offshore workers on the Baltic Line project who could not visit visa application centres because of operational restrictions and the nature of their work. With critical project deadlines and the need to mobilise large numbers of crew members for Denmark visa applications, a tailored maritime-industry service was created.

VFS Global said it has since worked closely with Hafnia Law Firm and KPMG to meet Denmark visa processing requirements for offshore applicants and to handle other maritime-sector applications. International frameworks including the Maritime Labour Convention place responsibility on shipowners for visas, transit documents and right-to-work authorisations when crew members board or disembark in foreign ports or territorial waters.

What this means for seafarers

Crew members working on ships do not need to leave their vessel to submit paperwork or give biometrics; staff come to the ship instead. Kishen Singh, VFS Global's chief operating officer for Europe and the Americas, said the service also lets applicants keep their passports, removing the wait for passport return after a decision — which he described as "a major advantage for those working at sea."

Singh said the 3,000 figure reflects how widely the service is now used in shipping and maritime work, and that the company expects to handle more applications in the years ahead. No fees, processing times or eligibility details for the service are given, and no start date has been announced for any expansion.