New Indian passport centres open across UAE: Thousands apply on day 1

Dubai: Hundreds of Indian nationals turned up early Wednesday morning as the UAE’s new network of Indian Consular Application Centres (ICACs) officially opened after weeks of uncertainty and legal challenges.

This marks the biggest overhaul of Indian passport and consular services in the country in years.

The services, now operated by Alhind Tours & Travels, are available through 16 centres across the UAE, replacing in-person passport, visa, attestation and consular application services previously temporarily offered at the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General of India in Dubai.

Speaking at the inauguration of the flagship centre at UW Mall in Bur Dubai, Mohammed Haris, Chairman and Founder of Alhind Group of Companies, said the response from applicants had been strong from the moment the centres opened.

“Nearly 2,000 applicants booked appointments this morning after the new website went live,” Haris said.

The new ICAC network became operational on July 22, 2026, after the Government of India outsourced passport, visa, attestation and consular services in the UAE to Alhind Tours & Travels.

The move follows a Supreme Court order allowing the Ministry of External Affairs to proceed with the new outsourcing arrangement while legal proceedings over the tender process continue.

Some applicants who spoke to Gulf News said their passport renewals, new passport applications and document attestation requests had been delayed for several weeks.

Davis Varghese, a service coordinator who has lived in the UAE for 30 years, said: "My son is studying in Australia, and I needed an affidavit for him to pursue his Master's degree. I've been waiting for two months to get the document processed. I couldn't get an appointment at the Indian Consulate for the past few weeks."

Varghese said that once the new service provider and appointment details were announced last week, he was able to secure a slot immediately and submit his application.

Similarly, Sayed Ahmed, a long-term Dubai resident, said he had been waiting for weeks to apply for his newborn son's passport.

"I've been trying to get an appointment for a long time. As soon as the new service provider was announced last night, I was able to book a slot almost instantly. The process was very easy," he said.

The centres are open from 8am to 6pm, with appointment slots released twice daily through the new online booking portal.

The Bur Dubai facility, described as the largest Indian consular application centre in the UAE, has 70 service counters and can process around 600 applicants a day.

“The second-largest centre is located in Dubai Investment Park,” Haris added.

Across all 16 centres, the network has the capacity to process up to 8,000 applications a day once operations are fully scaled up.

To support the rollout, around 350 employees have been recruited to operate the centres.

Applicants will pay a flat service charge of Dh19, in addition to the Government of India application fee.

According to Haris, the Dh19 fee includes a range of services that applicants previously paid for separately, including:

“There are no premium services,” Haris said, adding that all applicants receive the same level of service in line with Government of India policy.

Officials said the application submission process has been designed to be completed in around 30 minutes, provided applicants arrive with the required documents.

Indian Consulate officials said appointment slots are released twice daily at 9am and 9pm through the new online booking system.

The new centres handle:

Applicants no longer need to visit the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi or the Consulate General of India in Dubai to submit these applications.