The Indian passport. ARCHIVE

Indian expatriates in the UAE can look forward to a new unified centre for passport and attestation services, as the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi has reopened tenders for the Indian Consular Application Centre (ICAC). Planned to launch no sooner than the second quarter of this year, the ICAC will consolidate services currently offered by multiple vendors into a single streamlined platform with 14 locations across the UAE. The unified centre aims to serve over four million Indian residents and foreigners applying for Indian visas. Currently, BLS International handles passport and visa processing, while IVS Global manages attestation services. The ICAC will merge these under one roof to improve efficiency, reduce wait times, and ensure transparency. “The service provider shall facilitate the availability of appointment slots for submission of application within five working days,” according to the Request for Proposal issued by the embassy. It added that each application must be processed within 30 minutes, with penalties for non-compliance. The embassy had initially aimed to launch the centre in January 2024, but the previous tender was canceled due to technical issues. The new proposal includes requirements for a dedicated website for appointments, real-time tracking dashboards, and stringent service timelines. The mission handled over 1.58 million consular services between January 2022 and December 2024 — an average of 1,760 services per day. ICA/Expat Media
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