All passport and attestation centres for Indian expats in the UAE are set to change, as the Indian missions plan to launch a unified service centre with branches in 14 locations no sooner than the second quarter of this year, Gulf News can reveal. The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi has reopened a tender inviting bids from service providers to run Indian Consular Application Centre (ICAC) which will merge all the consular services under one facility. The Embassy has proposed 14 branches of ICAC to serve more than four million Indians living in the UAE and foreigners seeking Indian visa services through the Indian missions here. Currently, two different service providers offer outsourced services for the missions. BLS International processes the passport and visa applications while IVS Global handles the document attestation services and some services are handled at the Embassy and the Indian Consulate in Dubai. Quick and transparent The new unified facility is proposed to offer comprehensive, quick and transparent services in prime locations with strict requirements to streamline services, reduce waiting times and ensure enhanced efficiency and accessibility. The embassy had previously issued a similar tender in 2023, with plans to launch the ICAC project in January […]