Indian expatriates in the UAE can finally breathe a sigh of relief as Alhind Tours & Travels officially takes over passport renewal and consular services starting Wednesday, July 22. This transition follows a period of logistical challenges caused by a legal dispute, which previously forced Indian missions to handle high volumes of applications directly, resulting in significant congestion. Now, all passport and attestation requests will be managed through 16 newly established Indian Consular Application Centres (ICACs) across the country. Residents are encouraged to book their slots via the official portal, consularsevainuae.com, where appointments are released daily at 9am and 9pm.

To streamline the process, these centers will operate from 8am to 6pm, with a strict policy allowing entry only 15 minutes before scheduled appointments. While the Indian Embassy and Consulate will no longer handle these services directly, exceptions have been made for urgent needs such as Tatkaal renewals, newborn applications, and cases involving senior citizens, who can visit centers on a walk-in basis. It is important to note that the Government of India recently updated its fee structure, with a standard 36-page passport renewal now set at Dh450, plus a Dh19 service charge from Alhind. This arrangement is currently a temporary measure mandated by the Supreme Court of India, pending a fresh tendering process for long-term service providers.