Indian Embassy in UAE consolidates consular network: 4 centres to close, 12 to stay open from 22 October

In a late-evening press release on 21 October, the Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi confirmed that four Indian Consular Application Centres (ICACs) in the UAE will cease operations on 22 October 2026. Twelve centres—spread across Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Al Dhafra, Dubai and five northern emirates—will continue to provide passport, visa, OCI and attestation services. The network remains outsourced to Al Hind Tours & Travels. Centres closing include Musaffah (Capital Mall) and Al Reem Island in Abu Dhabi, Dubai Investment Park I and Al Majaz in Sharjah. Applicants with appointments at these locations after 22 October will be automatically redirected to the nearest operating ICAC; new booking links went live this morning. Application fees and turnaround times remain unchanged. For the UAE’s estimated 3.6 million Indian residents the reshuffle means longer travel for some but shorter queues overall. ICACs in Bur Dubai and Sharjah are extending weekday hours to absorb demand, while the embassy has promised additional weekend walk-in slots during the initial transition. Businesses that rely on bulk passport renewals for seafarers and project workers should revise logistics; shipping firms in particular have been advised to batch applications to the Al Danah (Abu Dhabi) and Bur Dubai centres, which have biometric capture facilities. HR teams should also remind employees that the new e-Passport system introduced in July 2026 allows real-time status tracking via the mPassport Seva app. The embassy says the consolidation will help it monitor service-level agreements more closely ahead of an impending retender of outsourcing contracts in mid-2027. Feedback on the new arrangement can be emailed to cons.abudhabi@mea.gov.in within 30 days.