Emergency services during transition
Q: What if I need urgent consular help between June 26 and June 30?
Emergency passport, visa and attestation services will continue to be available through the Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General of India in Dubai throughout the transition period.
For urgent assistance, applicants can reach the Indian missions via the toll-free number 800 46342 (800 INDIA), WhatsApp on +971 54 309 0571, or by email at pbsk.dubai@mea.gov.in.
What happens from July 1?
Q: Who takes over, and what will the new centres be called?
From July 1, all consular services will be handled by Alhind Tours and Travels LLC. The new service centres will operate under the name Indian Consular Application Centre or ICAC, a branding used by Indian missions globally.
In some countries, the name of the local service provider is used as a prefix, for example VFS ICAC in the US. How exactly the UAE centres operated by Alhind will be branded has not yet been confirmed by the missions.
Q: What services will ICAC offer?
Unlike the current arrangement, where applicants had to approach two separate providers for different services, the new ICACs will bring everything under one roof. Services to be offered include:
• Passport renewals and fresh passport applications
• OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) card applications
• Police Clearance Certificates (PCC)
• Surrender Certificates (SC)
• Global Entry Programme (GEP) verification
• Attestation of documents
• Miscellaneous consular services
Q: Will the website and appointment process change?
Yes. A new online appointment portal will go live on July 1, when Alhind formally takes over. The existing BLS and IVS websites will no longer be used for new appointment bookings.
Fees and turnaround
Q: How much will it cost and how long will it take?
Alhind has quoted an all-inclusive fee of Dh19 per transaction which covers all services, according to the company.
The contract mandates that appointment slots be made available within five working days of an application being submitted, and each application must be processed within a turnaround time of 30 minutes at the ICAC.
New centre locations
Q: Where will the 16 new centres be?
The new network spans all seven emirates. Abu Dhabi gets the largest share with six centres at Al Khalidiya, Al Reem Island, Musaffah, Madinat Zayed, Ghayathi and Al Ain.
Dubai will be served by two centres, in Bur Dubai and Dubai Investment Park (DIP). Sharjah will have centres at Al Majaz and Rolla.
