Indian Embassy to Close Four Consular Application Centres in UAE from October 22
By Business & Property Desk1 min read
The Indian Embassy in the United Arab Emirates has announced that four consular application centres will cease operations effective October 22, reducing the total number of Indian Community Application Centres (ICACs) across the country to 12.
Services at the centres located in Musaffah, Al Reem, Dubai Investment Park-1, and Sharjah Al Majaz will be discontinued due to what the embassy described as administrative reasons. The move brings the official count of active ICACs down from the original 16 that began operating after passport, visa, and attestation services were outsourced to Al Hind Tours & Travels.
Remaining Centres and Operating Hours
The following centres will continue to offer services as usual: Al Danah, Al Ain, Madinat Zayed, Al Dhafra, Ghayathi, Bur Dubai, Indian Association Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Kalba, and Khor Fakkan.
All 12 ICACs operate from 8:00 to 18:00 daily. Applicants are permitted to enter the centres only 15 minutes before their scheduled appointment. The Bur Dubai centre features 45 counters, which the embassy says helps reduce waiting times.
Walk-in Services for Urgent Cases
In a measure intended to assist those with pressing needs, the embassy stated that Tatkal passport services, newborn applications, Emergency Certificate requests, and services for senior citizens aged 60 and above will be accepted on a walk-in, first-come, first-served basis at all ICACs.
Passport Fee Revision and Additional Charges
The Government of India revised passport service charges across the UAE effective July 1, marking the first fee increase since 2012. Under the new structure, a normal 36-page passport renewal costs Dh450, up from Dh285, while a Tatkaal (expedited) renewal costs Dh900. For a 60-page passport, normal renewal is set at Dh630 and Tatkaal at Dh1,080.
Al Hind had earlier stated that it would charge a fee of Dh19 above the government-mandated fees, covering all services such as photocopying and photography.
