Disappointing Experience with Atlys – A Cautionary Tale for Future Applicants

I recently reached out to Atlys in mid-February for assistance with my visa application. Unfortunately, my experience so far has been far from satisfactory. I am still awaiting confirmation from both the embassy and the Atlys team. I’ll keep you posted on the status of my travel, but I feel compelled to share my experience with others.

Ratings: Overall Experience: ★★☆☆☆ Customer Service: ★★☆☆☆ UI/UX: ★★★☆☆ Transparency/Clarity: ★★☆☆☆ SOP Readiness: ★☆☆☆☆ Value for Money: ★★☆☆☆

I proactively submitted a form with all the requested details filled out correctly and continued to follow up with Atlys’ customer service to check if they needed anything else. Despite this, right up until the date of passport collection (three days into the process- that is the quickest part of their process btw), I was repeatedly told that only the passport was required and no other physical documents were needed.

Once my passport was collected, the process was put on hold for 15 days without any updates. Finally, I was asked to provide signed bank statements, which had to be collected physically. This resulted in a further delay of two more days as Atlys updated the estimated time of arrival (ETA) in the system.

At this point, I was reassured that action was being taken, so I thought the visa would be processed soon. However, we are now far past the stipulated ETA, and I am being completely ignored by the visa officer.

Key Considerations:

1. Form Filling ≠ Good Service: An easy form-filling experience does not guarantee good customer service.

2. Lack of Coordination: Atlys’ customer service reps do not appear to work in tandem with the visa officers who are actually processing applications. Their reassurances about prioritizing applications seem to be empty promises.

3. Delayed Processing: Despite submitting my visa request well in advance, I watched Atlys hold on to critical government documents for 15 days with zero updates. Atlys cannot blame the embassy for taking longer than expected—governments always take time to process data. A 5-10 day extra window should be expected, but Atlys' lack of timely action may have caused unnecessary delays.

4. In Case of Rejection: If my visa is rejected, I would appreciate having enough time to approach another agent or the embassy directly to reapply. At least a local agent would have a physical presence that I could visit for quicker processing.

5. Inconsistent Documentation Requests: Atlys doesn’t have any standard SOPs. Several others applying for the same visa were asked to submit different documents, or the same documents at different times. It seems like the visa officers themselves don’t have a clear idea of the exact requirements.

6. Misleading Information: I also noticed on LinkedIn that one of the managers in their Mumbai facility, listed as overseeing the office, left the company last year. Yet, the app still lists him as being responsible for the Mumbai office. This is concerning.

7. What Went Well: Despite the frustration and delays, I do want to give credit where it's due. The UI was fantastic, and it gave me false hopes that the visa application process had truly improved with their technology. Good job team!

Final Thoughts: Overall, for a business that depends on customer retention, Atlys’ poor infrastructure and service are extremely disappointing. Even though they've been in the business for a long time, this experience has been the worst of all my visa application processes—especially considering multiple frustrating encounters with VFS for European Visas.