Closure of Indian passport centres in UAE: Alhind issues fresh service advisory for applicants

Dubai: Four Indian Consular Application Centres (ICACs) in the UAE are now closed for good, and anyone still waiting to pick up a passport from them has to go elsewhere.

Alhind, the temporary outsourced service provider of the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Indian Consulate in Dubai, has issued a fresh service advisory confirming the change.

Effective Sunday, October 25, 2026, all pending passport collections from the four non-operational centres will be redirected to two other locations.

The Embassy had announced on Wednesday that the four centres would cease operations from October 22. Consular, passport, visa and attestation services continue at 12 centres across the UAE.

However, as first reported by Gulf News, Alhind had issued a service advisory announcing a partial opening of three of those centres for delivering the processed passports.

New collection points

As per the new service advisory, applicants with pending passports at the Dubai Investment Park (DIP) centre in Dubai or the Al Majaz centre in Sharjah must now collect them from UW Mall, Bur Dubai.

Those whose passports are at the Musaffah or Al Reem centres in Abu Dhabi should head to the Al Danah Centre instead.

Alhind has asked everyone with a pending collection at any of the four centres to visit the new location.

End of interim arrangement

The announcement ends the partial arrangement that followed the closures.

Alhind's earlier advisory had said passport delivery counters would stay open at three of the shut centres, namely DIP, Al Majaz and Musaffah, while submission counters would not operate at any of the four.

Passports from Al Reem were already being handed over at Al Danah.

Alhind's latest notice lists all four as closed: DIP Centre in Dubai Investment Park, Al Majaz Centre in Sharjah, and Musaffah Centre and Al Reem Centre in Abu Dhabi.

The company apologised for any inconvenience and thanked applicants for their understanding and cooperation.

As Gulf News reported earlier, only applicants who opted for in-person passport collection need to visit a centre. Those who chose courier delivery will receive their passports through the designated courier service.

Tender timeline

The closures come amid a wider shake-up of how Indian passport, visa and consular services are run in the UAE.

As first reported by Gulf News, the Embassy issued a fresh request for proposal (RFP) on September 28, inviting bids for outsourcing consular, passport and visa services at both Indian missions. This followed a court-ordered reset of the earlier process for the ICACs, which are currently run by Alhind.

Under the RFP, the contract is due to be awarded on November 27.

Whether Alhind continues to provide the services will depend on whether it wins the new bid. Applicants are advised to check official public announcements for updates on passport collection arrangements and service-centre operations.