Indian expatriates across the United Arab Emirates were advised on 20 June 2026 that routine passport renewals, Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) services, visa endorsements and document attestations will be unavailable for five days at all outsourced centres. The Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate-General in Dubai confirmed that current contractors BLS International and SGIVS Global will cease operations on 25 June, after which newcomer Al Hind Tours & Travel will assume responsibility on 1 July. During the 26–30 June blackout window, only emergency cases—such as medical evacuations, deaths, or travel-document loss—will be handled directly by diplomats via dedicated phone lines and WhatsApp channels. The MEA says the transition will centralise processes, introduce an online appointment engine and expand to 16 service centres (up from nine), promising shorter queues and a flat AED 19 service fee that bundles photos and photocopies.
With Indians forming almost 40 percent of the UAE’s population and peak summer-holiday travel looming, the announcement is highly consequential for mobility managers.
![Indian passport & visa services in the UAE to pause 26–30 June during provider hand-over]()
While operations pause, VisaHQ’s India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) can be a useful stop-gap. The site offers clear visa checklists, live chat support and courier submission options, allowing HR teams and travellers to assemble paperwork in advance so that once the new centres reopen, applications can be lodged without further delay.
Employers must bring forward any expiring residence visas or passport renewals, or risk staff falling out of status. Global mobility teams should alert travelling executives that OCI re-issuance, police-clearance certificates and attestation slots will only reopen in July, potentially delaying relocations to India or third-country assignments that require Indian paperwork. Al Hind—headquartered in Kerala and already active in Gulf travel, IT and remittances—won the MEA tender on a promise of unified front-office systems and end-to-end biometric capture. The move mirrors similar consolidation in the US and UK in 2025. If successful, officials hint that the model could be replicated in Saudi Arabia and Qatar next year, further reshaping how India delivers consular services to its 13-million-strong diaspora. Expat groups have welcomed the longer opening hours and price transparency but urged the Embassy to ensure data migration does not disrupt pending applications or compromise personal information. The MEA says encrypted transfer protocols and on-premise data servers have been mandated as part of the new contract.
With Indians forming almost 40 percent of the UAE’s population and peak summer-holiday travel looming, the announcement is highly consequential for mobility managers.
While operations pause, VisaHQ’s India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) can be a useful stop-gap. The site offers clear visa checklists, live chat support and courier submission options, allowing HR teams and travellers to assemble paperwork in advance so that once the new centres reopen, applications can be lodged without further delay.
Employers must bring forward any expiring residence visas or passport renewals, or risk staff falling out of status. Global mobility teams should alert travelling executives that OCI re-issuance, police-clearance certificates and attestation slots will only reopen in July, potentially delaying relocations to India or third-country assignments that require Indian paperwork. Al Hind—headquartered in Kerala and already active in Gulf travel, IT and remittances—won the MEA tender on a promise of unified front-office systems and end-to-end biometric capture. The move mirrors similar consolidation in the US and UK in 2025. If successful, officials hint that the model could be replicated in Saudi Arabia and Qatar next year, further reshaping how India delivers consular services to its 13-million-strong diaspora. Expat groups have welcomed the longer opening hours and price transparency but urged the Embassy to ensure data migration does not disrupt pending applications or compromise personal information. The MEA says encrypted transfer protocols and on-premise data servers have been mandated as part of the new contract.
