Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi issues fresh tender for passport services in UAE: What it means for expats

Abu Dhabi: The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi issued a fresh request for proposal (RFP) on Monday, inviting companies to bid for the outsourcing of consular, passport and visa (CPV) services at the Embassy and the Indian Consulate in Dubai, Gulf News can reveal.

The fresh tender, numbered Abu/Cons/415/08/2026 and dated September 28, 2026, follows a court-ordered reset of the earlier process to establish Indian Consular Application Centres (ICACs), currently run by Alhind Global Services.

Bidders must submit their organisation profile by October 4 and written questions by October 5. A pre-bid conference will be held on October 8, with responses to queries due on October 12 and any corrigendum on October 13.

Bids close on October 26 at 3pm local time, and technical bids will be opened at 4.30pm the same day. Technical results are expected on November 20, financial bids will be opened on November 23, and the contract is due to be awarded on November 27.

No date has been set for technical presentations, while the dates for results, financial bid opening and award are subject to change for administrative or logistical reasons.

Bid terms

The winner will be chosen on the L1 (lowest financial bid) basis in a two-tier process covering technical and financial bids. The contract will run for three years. Services at the centres must begin within 45 days of signing, and all centres must open simultaneously.

The RFP seeks 15 ICACs across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain, Khor Fakkan, Kalba and Ras Al Khaimah. A bid security of Dh756,700 is required, although registered micro and small enterprises are exempt.

Why retender

The move follows the Delhi High Court's July 15 ruling, which quashed the technical evaluation and nullified the tender awarded to Alhind Tours and Travels Ltd.

The contracts of the previous service providers, BLS International (for passport and visa services) and SGIVS Global Services (for attestation services) had expired on June 30.

The Supreme Court of India later refused to interfere, while allowing the Ministry of External Affairs to make interim arrangements until a fresh tender is completed.

The Apex court directed the Centre to comply with its directions within three months and said such arrangements would create no special rights for any party.

Alhind has been running 16 ICACs across the UAE since July 22, after the Supreme Court allowed interim arrangements to keep services running

Expat impact

For the UAE's 4.5 million-strong Indian expat community, services at the centres continue for now. However, the operator could change if the fresh contract is awarded to any company other than Alhind.

The stakes are high: the Embassy and Consulate handled close to 600,000 services in 2025, including nearly 400,000 passport services, according to the RFP.

Alhind is currently providing all support services at 16 ICACs for Dh19 including form-filling assistance, photograph services, photocopy services and courier services.

Recently, a new Sunday counter was opened at ICACs for the collection of passports for those who cannot make it on weekdays.