The Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi has announced that Al Hind Tours and Travels will become the sole outsourced service provider for Indian passport, visa and consular applications across the United Arab Emirates beginning 1 July 2026. Existing contractors BLS International Services and SGIVS Global will accept applications only until 30 June, after which their centres will shut down or hand over files to Al Hind. In practical terms, Indian nationals and foreign citizens applying for Indian visas in Abu Dhabi, Dubai or the northern emirates must book new appointments through Al Hind’s online portal, which is slated to go live next week.
Meanwhile, travellers outside the UAE—or anyone preparing for future trips involving Indian documentation—can streamline their paperwork through platforms like VisaHQ. The company offers step-by-step support for Indian visas, passport services, OCI applications and more, and its intuitive dashboard keeps applicants informed at every stage; full details are available at https://www.visahq.com/india/
The embassy said the transition is intended to consolidate fragmented processes, introduce end-to-end digital tracking and reduce the average passport-renewal turnaround from four working days to two. For nearly 3.5 million Indians living in the UAE—the largest overseas Indian community—the change affects a wide range of services: passport renewals, Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards, attestation, and emergency travel documents. Corporate mobility managers should update employee handbooks to reflect the new submission addresses and revised service fees, which Al Hind has indicated will remain “broadly similar” but may include optional premium lounges for business travellers. The embassy has urged applicants with imminent travel to file before 25 June to avoid overlap downtime. Files already lodged with BLS or SGIVS will be processed “without disruption,” but walk-in corrections after 1 July must be routed through Al Hind. Early feedback from travel agents is cautious: while a single-vendor model could improve accountability, any teething issues could create temporary backlogs during the peak summer travel season. Longer term, officials say the UAE pilot will inform India’s global consular-modernisation roadmap. If successful, similar single-provider contracts could be rolled out in high-volume missions such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United States, potentially standardising service quality for millions of Indian expatriates worldwide.
Meanwhile, travellers outside the UAE—or anyone preparing for future trips involving Indian documentation—can streamline their paperwork through platforms like VisaHQ. The company offers step-by-step support for Indian visas, passport services, OCI applications and more, and its intuitive dashboard keeps applicants informed at every stage; full details are available at https://www.visahq.com/india/
The embassy said the transition is intended to consolidate fragmented processes, introduce end-to-end digital tracking and reduce the average passport-renewal turnaround from four working days to two. For nearly 3.5 million Indians living in the UAE—the largest overseas Indian community—the change affects a wide range of services: passport renewals, Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards, attestation, and emergency travel documents. Corporate mobility managers should update employee handbooks to reflect the new submission addresses and revised service fees, which Al Hind has indicated will remain “broadly similar” but may include optional premium lounges for business travellers. The embassy has urged applicants with imminent travel to file before 25 June to avoid overlap downtime. Files already lodged with BLS or SGIVS will be processed “without disruption,” but walk-in corrections after 1 July must be routed through Al Hind. Early feedback from travel agents is cautious: while a single-vendor model could improve accountability, any teething issues could create temporary backlogs during the peak summer travel season. Longer term, officials say the UAE pilot will inform India’s global consular-modernisation roadmap. If successful, similar single-provider contracts could be rolled out in high-volume missions such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United States, potentially standardising service quality for millions of Indian expatriates worldwide.
