The Indian missions in the United Arab Emirates have confirmed a sweeping shake-up of their outsourced consular network: from 1 July 2026, all Indian passport, visa, Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) and ancillary consular applications in every emirate will be processed exclusively by Al Hind Tours & Travels LLC. The change ends a decade-long split contract that saw BLS International Services and SGIVS Global handling more than 700,000 annual applications on behalf of the Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate-General in Dubai. According to the official tender notice, Al Hind scored highest on price, digital capability, customer-service metrics and geographic reach, promising 16 walk-in centres spanning Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and the eastern coastal towns of Kalba and Khor Fakkan. For the UAE’s 3.5 million-strong Indian diaspora—and the employers who rely on their mobility—the transition matters. All applications lodged on or after 1 July must be routed through Al Hind’s new centres; submissions to BLS or SGIVS after 30 June will be rejected. The missions say service fees, biometric capture and document-attestation procedures will remain unchanged during a three-month “stabilisation period”, but digital appointment slots and a revamped call centre will go live in the third week of June to smooth the switch-over. Indian companies relocating staff to the UAE, and UAE multinationals rotating personnel to India, need to update internal mobility playbooks immediately. HR teams should: (1) revise vendor master data to reflect the new payee; (2) circulate the location list so assignees visit the correct centre; (3) remind travellers that courier delivery of stamped passports will pause between 28–30 June while inventories are transferred; and (4) bookmark the missions’ verified social-media channels to avoid misinformation. Finally, the Embassy has warned of “inevitable first-week queues” and urges applicants with travel before mid-July to file well ahead of the cut-off. Corporates with bulk renewals (seafarers, oil-field rotations and cabin-crew bases) are encouraged to seek dedicated group appointments via a new B2B desk being piloted by Al Hind in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi.
