JOB DESCRIPTION

A.          BASIC DETAILS OF THE JOB

Mission: Consulate-General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Bengaluru

Job title: Consular Affairs Officer

Job level: 06

Number of working hours per week: 38

B.        GENERAL FEATURES OF THE JOB

The Consular Affairs Officer:

• Handles all consular services provided by the Consulate-General, including long-term (MVV) visa applications, Dutch passport applications, and when required also legalizations and issuance of Consular Declarations, as well as communication with stakeholders, answering inquiries, etc.;

• Provides consular assistance to Dutch nationals in need of such, in the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as well as the Union Territories Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry.

• Is accountable to the management of the Consulate-General, and works in good cooperation with the Consular Sections at the Embassy in New Delhi and the Consulate-General in Mumbai;

• May be assigned other duties as indicated by the management of the Consulate-General, especially with regard to the operations of the Consulate-General;

• Handles work-related matters in a professional and objective manner, not influenced by personal interests or interests of third parties;

• Due to the nature of the job, working from home will not be possible.

C.1       DUTIES AND RESULT AREAS

Description of duties:

• Receives and processes MVV-applications (long-stay visa applications), by taking them in at the counter of the Consulate-General.

• If necessary, communicates with colleagues at the Consular section of the Embassy in New Delhi about MVV-applications/authorizations/irregularities etc.;

• Verifies the authenticity of documents and information provided by MVV-applicants.

• Manages the online appointment system for the Consulate-General in Bangalore.

• Communicates with colleagues at the Consular section of the Embassy in New Delhi about appointment requests for earlier appointments than online available.

• Receives and processes applications for Dutch travel documents.

• Processes requests for Consular Declarations and Legalisations;

• Together with the Deputy Consul-General and Consul-General, provides consular (emergency) assistance to Dutch nationals when needed, including communication with Indian authorities, consular colleagues at the Embassy in New Delhi and the Consular Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague, also outside of normal office hours.

• Communicates with stakeholders face-to-face, through e-mail, by telephone etc.;

• Answers and processes queries received through the consular e-mail inbox BGL-CA of the Consulate-General, inclusive of urgent/sensitive cases, seeks help from others if needed and timely informs his or her line manager of cases that require urgent attention and/or are sensitive.

• Communicates with Indian Authorities, consular colleagues at the Embassy in New Delhi and the Consular Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague about Dutch detainees in the area covered by the Consulate-General.

• Develops and maintains contact with relevant organizations, such as FRRO and consular desks of other consular missions in the ressort of the Consulate-General.

• Prepares naturalization ceremonies to be held at the Consulate-General.

• Occasionally has standby phone duty for emergency consular cases.

• Follows Comma (online) trainings and other trainings relevant for an adequate job performance.

• Keeps him- or herself abreast of local regulations and developments in the consular field and of consular instructions relevant for an adequate job performance.

Description of result areas:

• Long-stay national visa (MVV’s) are processed in compliance with authorizations from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) in the Netherlands.

• Applications for Dutch travel documents are processed in accordance with prevailing passport regulations and instructions from the Consular Service Organization in the Netherlands.

• Consular Declarations are issued in accordance with prevailing instructions and templates.

• Requests for Legalizations are processed within two working days.

• Requests from the public at large and from counterparts in The Hague or India, and other inquiries about visa, naturalization, civic integration exams, DNA tests, verification (if any), etc. are handled professionally, accurately and forthcoming, in a friendly and efficient manner.

• Consular cash receipts (if any) are handed in to the main cashier at the end of each working day.

• All communication in relation to consular (emergency) cases is well-archived in Hermes.

• The clean desk policy of the Consulate-General is well respected; all consular documents handled by the consular officer are archived in time, complete and well organized.

• All relevant Comma training modules are completed with certificates.

C.2       CONTACTS

• With applicants for MVV’s (long stay visas), Dutch travel documents and other consular services;
• With staff members of the Consulate-General in Bangalore, the Embassy in New Delhi and other Missions of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in India;
• With external service provider VFS;
• With governmental organizations in the Netherlands, mostly DCV, CSO and IND;
• With various institutions, companies and authorities in India;

C.3       JOB REQUIREMENTS / KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

Level of education:

At least higher vocational degree or equivalent.

Experience:

At least 3 years of work experience in a similar position, preferably at a service oriented foreign Diplomatic and/or Consular Mission in India.

Knowledge:

• Excellent command of English and Hindi both verbally and in writing.
• Working knowledge of some local languages (Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu).
• Proficient in the use of MS Office, in particular Outlook, Excel and Word.
• Work experience in consular matters is an advantage.
• Knowledge of or experience with mobility and migration policy issues is an advantage.

Skills:

• Excellent customer services skills.
• Effective communication skills with people from all walks of life.
• Ability to balance the interests of the organization with those of clients, in that order.
• Ability to remain calm, friendly and efficient under all circumstances.
• Ability to work in an organized, detailed and precise manner.
• Quick learner, ability to master and understand consular applications like Hermes, Kairos, online appointment system, etc.  

Competencies:

• Client orientation
• Interpersonal skills
• Accuracy
• Self-development
• Intercultural sensitivity
• Organisational sensitivity
• Clarity of expression, verbally and in writing
• Integrity

D. WORKING ENVIRONMENT

Brief description of the Mission and the physical work environment

The diplomatic, consular and business support network of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Republic of India comprises of the Embassy in New Delhi, Consulates-General in Bangalore and Mumbai and Netherlands Business Support Offices (NBSO’s) in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.

The Consulate-General in Bangalore currently has 13 staff members. The Chancery of the Consulate-General is located on the 11th floor of a modern office tower at the Embassy One compound on Bellary Road, Ganganagar, Bangalore - 560032.

In addition to the consular services offered, the focus of the Consulate-General is on economic diplomacy, supporting Dutch and Indian companies and organizations to do business and work together on innovative solutions for a better future.

The Consul-General and Deputy Consul-General are Dutch diplomats. All other staff are Indian nationals. Apart from the Economic Cluster, the Consulate-General has an Innovation Cluster, an Investment (NFIA) Cluster, an Agriculture Cluster and an Operational/Consular cluster.

The Consular Officer will be responsible for all consular services, and will work closely with the Deputy Consul-General, Consul-General, and the Operational Cluster (Operational Manager and Management Assistant).

E. TYPE OF EMPLOYEE REQUIRED

A committed, service oriented and proactive team player with excellent communication and other social skills. He or she should have a great sense of accuracy and responsibility, deliver high quality work, possess a high degree of integrity and be able to resist third party pressure on visa and other consular matters. A great sense of humour is an added value.

F. EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS

The selected candidate will be offered an employment contract for one year. Upon expiry of this contract, a two-year employment contract will be offered in case of excellent job performance. On the same condition, a three-year employment contract will be offered upon the expiry of the second employment contract. Any successive employment contract thereafter will be decided upon a case-by-case basis.

Upon employment, the employee will be ranked in salary scale 6, the same as the job level. All ten salary scales at the Netherlands Missions comprise 16 pay numbers. The pay number assigned to the employee upon employment depends on the number of years of relevant experience. After every 12 months, the employee may be awarded one additional pay number depending on his or her job performance in the preceding 12 months.

At present, salary scale 6 starts with a gross monthly salary of INR 93,233 for pay number 0 and ends with a gross monthly salary of INR 139,849 for pay number 15. Salaries are adjusted every year as per the 1st of January based upon the outcome of a salary survey among five markers. Every December a 13th month salary is paid, and, within certain restrictions, 95% of medical cost are reimbursed.

Employees are encouraged and supported to seek further training and education to improve their skills and broaden their employability. This is paid for by the employer.

Income tax and social security premiums are withheld / to be paid by the employee in accordance with Indian Law and regulations.

APPLICATION

Applicants who are interested in the position and wish to apply for it can send their application by email to BGL@minbuza.nl not later than Friday 29 May 2026. Please note that this position will be open to both internal and external candidates, with priority given to internal candidates.