Indian Missions Name New Outsourcing Partner for Passport and Visa Services Across UAE

India’s Embassy in Abu Dhabi and Consulate General in Dubai announced late on Saturday, 13 June 2026, that Al Hind Tours & Travels LLC has won the competitive tender to run all outsourced Indian passport, visa and miscellaneous consular services in the United Arab Emirates. The change takes effect on 1 July 2026, ending more than a decade of processing by BLS International Services and SGIVS Global. According to the official statement, applicants may continue to lodge documents with the existing providers until 30 June. From 1 July, all new applications must be filed through Al Hind’s 16 purpose-built centres spread across the seven emirates, including six locations in Abu Dhabi, two in Dubai and additional offices in Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah. The missions said detailed operating hours, appointment portals and fee schedules will be published in a dedicated service charter before the transition date.



For travellers and HR teams looking to compare requirements or monitor future updates, VisaHQ’s UAE portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/) provides an intuitive dashboard of Indian and third-country visa rules, fee calculators and live chat support, making it a handy complement to the services that Al Hind will soon deliver across the Emirates.

The Indian community—numbering roughly 3.5 million and representing the UAE’s largest expatriate group—relies heavily on outsourced processing for new passports, attestations and OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) cards. For employers, the smooth issuance and renewal of Indian work visas underpins critical sectors such as construction, healthcare and hospitality. An uninterrupted hand-over is therefore essential to avoid bottlenecks during the busy summer travel period when many families fly home for school holidays. Al Hind, headquartered in Kozhikode, Kerala, already operates travel and visa centres in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Industry insiders say its UAE contract will be worth tens of millions of dirhams annually and may introduce biometric capture kiosks and AI-driven document checking—technology aligned with the UAE government’s own zero-paper ambitions. Analysts also note that the move diversifies India’s outsourcing partners, reducing reliance on BLS, which handles Indian visas in more than 60 countries. Corporates are advised to update employee-mobility handbooks with the new centre addresses and to factor in potential teething issues during the first two weeks of July. Time-sensitive applications—such as emergency medical visas for dependants—should, if possible, be filed before 25 June to ensure clearance under the current system. The Indian missions reiterated that all official updates will appear only on their verified websites and social-media channels, warning applicants against third-party agents claiming “priority slots” during the switchover.