From 22 July 2026, all Indian passport, visa and document-attestation work in the United Arab Emirates is being channelled through 16 new Indian Consular Application Centres (ICACs) operated by Al Hind Tours & Travels. The shift follows months of tender litigation in India that saw the Delhi High Court cancel the previous outsourcing award; the Supreme Court later granted the MEA a three-month interim window to keep services running while a new tender is prepared. Al Hind’s centres—six in Abu Dhabi, four in Dubai and the rest across Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain—can jointly process more than 8,000 applications a day, according to company officials. Operating hours are 08:00-18:00, with both appointment and limited walk-in options. Fees are now AED 19 (≈ US$5.20) per application, inclusive of VAT, in addition to revised Government of India charges that took effect on 1 July. The change is highly significant for India-UAE mobility. Roughly 3.5 million Indians live and work in the Emirates, many on short-cycle employment contracts that require frequent passport renewals and police-clearance certificates. During July, applicants queued for hours at the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi and the consulate in Dubai after the previous vendors stopped accepting files. Early feedback from users of the new system suggests average processing-time at counters has dropped to under 30 minutes. For global-mobility managers the message is double-edged. On one hand, the single-vendor model simplifies appointment booking and status tracking via the new portal (consularsevainuae.com). On the other, another contractual change could occur when the MEA completes its fresh tender this autumn. Companies should therefore validate travel-document timelines for assignees in the UAE and keep contingency plans in place. Al Hind has indicated it will introduce digital self-service kiosks and dedicated corporate lanes later this year, moves that could further streamline high-volume applications from large expatriate employers and relocation providers.
Source: The National (UAE)
