The Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi has awarded its passport-, visa- and consular-service contract to Al Hind Tours and Travels LLC, replacing BLS International Services and SGIVS Global. The transition, announced late on 13 June 2026, takes effect on 1 July and affects all seven Indian consular centres across the United Arab Emirates. Until 30 June, applicants must continue to submit documents through the current outsourcers.
![Indian Consulate in UAE Shifts Passport and Visa Services to New Provider from 1 July]()
For travellers who would rather not navigate these shifting requirements alone, VisaHQ offers an end-to-end digital concierge service that can pre-check documentation, book appointments and monitor status updates in real time; its India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) is already tracking the Abu Dhabi outsourcing change to help users stay compliant.
From 1 July onward, fresh applications—including passport renewals, Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards, police-clearance certificates and attestation services—will be accepted only at Al Hind-operated centres. Cases already lodged with BLS or SGIVS will continue under the old vendors until completion. For the UAE’s 3.5 million-strong Indian community, the change means new appointment portals, revised fee structures and potentially different document-submission checklists. Frequent business travellers should verify centre locations and processing timelines, particularly during the hand-over week when queues may lengthen. Corporate mobility teams coordinating large-scale employee rotations through Dubai or Abu Dhabi must update travel packs and vendor contracts. Employers who rely on BLS corporate desks for bulk passport renewals will need to sign fresh agreements with Al Hind or shift to in-house filing. Logistics providers moving seafarers on short notice should double-check that emergency-certificate issuance remains uninterrupted. The embassy has urged applicants to depend only on official channels for updates and warns of “fraudulent intermediaries” exploiting the transition. Al Hind will publish detailed operating hours, contact numbers and an FAQ before go-live; a grace period for resubmitting incorrectly addressed courier packets is under discussion.
For travellers who would rather not navigate these shifting requirements alone, VisaHQ offers an end-to-end digital concierge service that can pre-check documentation, book appointments and monitor status updates in real time; its India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) is already tracking the Abu Dhabi outsourcing change to help users stay compliant.
From 1 July onward, fresh applications—including passport renewals, Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards, police-clearance certificates and attestation services—will be accepted only at Al Hind-operated centres. Cases already lodged with BLS or SGIVS will continue under the old vendors until completion. For the UAE’s 3.5 million-strong Indian community, the change means new appointment portals, revised fee structures and potentially different document-submission checklists. Frequent business travellers should verify centre locations and processing timelines, particularly during the hand-over week when queues may lengthen. Corporate mobility teams coordinating large-scale employee rotations through Dubai or Abu Dhabi must update travel packs and vendor contracts. Employers who rely on BLS corporate desks for bulk passport renewals will need to sign fresh agreements with Al Hind or shift to in-house filing. Logistics providers moving seafarers on short notice should double-check that emergency-certificate issuance remains uninterrupted. The embassy has urged applicants to depend only on official channels for updates and warns of “fraudulent intermediaries” exploiting the transition. Al Hind will publish detailed operating hours, contact numbers and an FAQ before go-live; a grace period for resubmitting incorrectly addressed courier packets is under discussion.
