Indian nationals living and working in the UAE face a five-day suspension of routine consular services as New Delhi switches outsourced providers. The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and Consulate General in Dubai confirmed that BLS International (passports & visas) and SGIVS Global (attestations) stopped accepting new applications at close of business on 25 June 2026. From 26 to 30 June, no fresh appointments will be available; emergency assistance, however, continues on a walk-in basis. Operations resume on 1 July under M/s Al Hind Tours and Travel LLC, which will manage 16 Indian Consular Application Centres across all seven emirates and launch a new online booking portal. Applicants who submitted paperwork before 25 June will see their files processed as normal, but those planning passport renewals, OCI cards, power-of-attorney attestations or employment-visa transfers must now wait until the new system goes live. The transition affects a diaspora of roughly 3.5 million Indians—the UAE’s largest expatriate community—and coincides with the peak annual window for summer home leave. Employers relying on last-minute visa endorsements for project mobilisations should build in at least an extra week of lead time and budget for potential courier fees once Al Hind publishes its service-charge schedule. Al Hind has pledged to standardise pricing and extend opening hours in high-volume locations such as Bur Dubai and Musaffah. The company also plans to roll out biometric collection booths that integrate directly with India’s new e-passport system, reducing repeat visits. Nevertheless, mobility teams are advised to monitor embassy alerts for any soft-launch hiccups, and travellers with imminent expiry dates should carry a print-out of the embassy notice when flying to India to avoid airline check-in disputes. In the longer term, the outsourcing shake-up is expected to raise service quality, but the immediate blackout underscores the vulnerability of paper-heavy processes. Companies that hold group visas for ship-yard crews and onshore technicians may wish to shift to the UAE’s digital Emirates ID-based sponsorship channels to mitigate future disruptions.
Source: Outlook Traveller
