The Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi has announced that Al Hind Tours and Travels LLC will become the sole outsourced service provider for Indian passport, visa and other consular services across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) beginning 1 July 2026. The move ends the decade-long dual-vendor model under which BLS International and SGIVS Global processed more than 1.5 million applications a year for the large Indian expatriate community.
![Al Hind to Take Over Indian Passport, Visa and Consular Services in UAE from 1 July 2026]()
For those who may need assistance with Indian travel documentation outside the UAE—or who simply prefer an end-to-end online solution—VisaHQ offers a convenient alternative. Their platform provides real-time tracking, digital form-filling, and dedicated support for both individual travelers and corporate mobility teams. You can explore their India-specific services at https://www.visahq.com/india/
According to embassy officials, BLS and SGIVS will continue to accept applications only until 30 June, after which the entire network of 16 new centres managed by Al Hind will go live in all seven emirates, including six offices in Abu Dhabi and two in Dubai. Al Hind won the competitive tender on the promise of end-to-end digitisation. A new cloud-based appointment engine will allocate biometric slots in under 60 seconds, while an AI-driven document checker is expected to reduce rejection rates by 30 percent. The company has also committed to evening-hour counters for seafarers and air-crew and to a 48-hour Tatkal turnaround for emergency passports—welcome news for shipping and aviation employers who often struggle with crew-change paperwork. For corporate mobility managers, the biggest change is the creation of a dedicated “bulk desk” that will allow authorised HR representatives to book blocks of appointments and track application status through a dashboard API. Multinationals with large rotation programmes in the Gulf say this could cut administrative time by up to a week per assignee. Al Hind has clarified that service fees will remain at current levels until at least December 2026, although value-added options such as home-pickup and premium lounges will attract additional charges. Indian missions have urged applicants to rely only on official channels as social-media rumours about price increases and centre closures proliferate. The embassy will publish detailed SOPs next week covering payment methods, data-privacy safeguards and escalation protocols for grievances. In the longer term the transition is part of the government’s “Consular 2.0” strategy, which aims to standardise outsourced services in major diaspora hubs and integrate real-time application data with India’s new e-Passport issuance platform. Similar single-vendor contracts for Saudi Arabia, the US and the UK are expected to be floated later this year.
For those who may need assistance with Indian travel documentation outside the UAE—or who simply prefer an end-to-end online solution—VisaHQ offers a convenient alternative. Their platform provides real-time tracking, digital form-filling, and dedicated support for both individual travelers and corporate mobility teams. You can explore their India-specific services at https://www.visahq.com/india/
According to embassy officials, BLS and SGIVS will continue to accept applications only until 30 June, after which the entire network of 16 new centres managed by Al Hind will go live in all seven emirates, including six offices in Abu Dhabi and two in Dubai. Al Hind won the competitive tender on the promise of end-to-end digitisation. A new cloud-based appointment engine will allocate biometric slots in under 60 seconds, while an AI-driven document checker is expected to reduce rejection rates by 30 percent. The company has also committed to evening-hour counters for seafarers and air-crew and to a 48-hour Tatkal turnaround for emergency passports—welcome news for shipping and aviation employers who often struggle with crew-change paperwork. For corporate mobility managers, the biggest change is the creation of a dedicated “bulk desk” that will allow authorised HR representatives to book blocks of appointments and track application status through a dashboard API. Multinationals with large rotation programmes in the Gulf say this could cut administrative time by up to a week per assignee. Al Hind has clarified that service fees will remain at current levels until at least December 2026, although value-added options such as home-pickup and premium lounges will attract additional charges. Indian missions have urged applicants to rely only on official channels as social-media rumours about price increases and centre closures proliferate. The embassy will publish detailed SOPs next week covering payment methods, data-privacy safeguards and escalation protocols for grievances. In the longer term the transition is part of the government’s “Consular 2.0” strategy, which aims to standardise outsourced services in major diaspora hubs and integrate real-time application data with India’s new e-Passport issuance platform. Similar single-vendor contracts for Saudi Arabia, the US and the UK are expected to be floated later this year.
