{"id":48609,"date":"2026-09-29T02:10:37","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T02:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/?p=48609"},"modified":"2026-09-29T02:14:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T02:14:16","slug":"india-embassy-in-uae-invites-new-bids-to-provide-passport-related-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/india-embassy-in-uae-invites-new-bids-to-provide-passport-related-services\/","title":{"rendered":"India Embassy in UAE Invites New Bids to Provide Passport-Related Services."},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Indian Embassy in UAE Floats Fresh Tender for Outsourced Passport Services<\/h3>
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The Indian Embassy in the UAE has launched a new tender process to select an outsourced provider for passport and other consular services, following directions from India\u2019s Supreme Court that require the government to conduct a fresh bidding exercise.<\/h4>

The development comes only a few months after Alhind Tours and Travels began operating as the outsourced consular services provider for Indian missions in the UAE. The company has been handling applications through a network of centres across the Emirates since July.<\/p>

The latest tender follows a prolonged legal dispute over the earlier selection process and could eventually result in a change of service provider.<\/p>

Fresh tender issued by Indian Embassy<\/h3>

The Indian Embassy has released a new Request for Proposal (RFP) for the operation of Indian Consular Application Centres (ICACs) throughout the UAE.<\/p>

The document, identified as RFP No. Abu\/Cons\/415\/08\/2026 and dated September 28, 2026, invites eligible companies to participate in the bidding process for providing outsourced consular services.<\/p>

The selected organisation will be responsible for operating ICACs and assisting applicants with services including passports and other consular documentation.<\/p>

The tender comes after the Supreme Court directed the Indian government to complete a fresh bidding process following legal challenges to the original tender.<\/p>

While the new procurement process is underway, services for the Indian community in the UAE are continuing. However, the organisation ultimately selected through the new tender will determine who holds the outsourcing contract going forward.<\/p>

Background to the legal dispute<\/h3>

The issue dates back to the original tender process, when companies that were unsuccessful in the bidding challenged aspects of the technical evaluation.<\/p>

The dispute eventually reached the Delhi High Court. In July 2026, the court ruled in favour of the challengers and directed that the tender process be conducted again.<\/p>

The court also prevented Alhind from proceeding with the rollout of its outsourced services under the disputed selection.<\/p>

The legal proceedings created uncertainty for Indian nationals in the UAE who depend on consular services for passports, visas, document attestation and other official requirements.<\/p>

During the period of uncertainty, Indian diplomatic missions in the UAE stepped in to provide consular services directly to applicants.<\/p>

The Indian government subsequently challenged the High Court ruling before the Supreme Court.<\/p>

The Supreme Court later directed the government to complete a fresh tender process within three months. At the same time, it permitted Alhind to continue providing services on an interim basis.<\/p>

The temporary arrangement was intended to ensure that Indian residents in the UAE would continue to have access to consular services while the fresh procurement process was completed.<\/p>

Alhind’s interim role<\/h3>

Alhind Tours and Travels began operating 16 Indian Consular Application Centres across the UAE from July 22, 2026.<\/p>

The centres provide assistance with passport, visa and document-attestation applications.<\/p>

Under its current arrangement, Alhind charges applicants a service fee of Dh19. The fee covers several basic support services, including assistance with completing application forms, photographs, photocopying and courier services.<\/p>

The introduction of the outsourced system initially resulted in significant demand at the centres.<\/p>

The provider faced heavy crowds and a substantial backlog during its first few weeks of operation as applicants sought to access the newly introduced services.<\/p>

Alhind subsequently announced that the backlog had been cleared.<\/p>

The company has also introduced Sunday collection services for applicants, providing an additional option for people who may find it difficult to visit the centres during the working week.<\/p>

Before the centres opened, Mohammed Haris T., chairman and founder of Alhind Tours & Travels, said the company aimed to make the application process faster and hoped applicants could complete the necessary formalities within approximately 30 minutes.<\/p>

The current arrangement, however, remains temporary in light of the fresh tender process.<\/p>

New contract will cover 15 centres<\/h3>

The latest RFP calls for the operation of 15 Indian Consular Application Centres across various parts of the UAE.<\/p>

The locations covered by the tender include Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain, Khor Fakkan, Kalba and Ras Al Khaimah.<\/p>

The successful bidder will receive a contract for three years.<\/p>

According to the tender requirements, the selected service provider will be expected to commence operations within 45 days of signing the agreement.<\/p>

This means the winning bidder will have a defined period to establish or transition the required facilities and begin providing services to applicants.<\/p>

The tender process is being conducted in stages, with prospective bidders required to meet several deadlines before the final submission date.<\/p>

Companies interested in participating must submit their organisational profiles by October 4.<\/p>

Written questions concerning the tender must be submitted by October 5.<\/p>

A pre-bid meeting has been scheduled for October 8, giving prospective bidders an opportunity to seek clarification on the requirements.<\/p>

The deadline for submitting the final bids is October 26 at 3pm UAE local time.<\/p>

Selection based on two-stage bidding<\/h3>

The successful company will be selected through a two-stage evaluation process involving technical and financial bids.<\/p>

The tender specifies that the contract will be awarded on an L1 basis, meaning the lowest qualifying financial bid will be considered in accordance with the tender’s evaluation framework.<\/p>

Companies participating in the process must therefore meet the technical requirements before their financial proposals can be considered.<\/p>

A bid security of Dh756,700 has also been specified as part of the tender requirements.<\/p>

However, registered micro and small enterprises that qualify under the applicable criteria are exempt from submitting the bid security.<\/p>

The bidding structure is intended to allow the embassy to evaluate participating organisations before moving to the financial stage of the process.<\/p>

The eventual successful bidder will be responsible for operating the designated ICAC network for the three-year contract period, subject to the terms and conditions of the agreement.<\/p>

What it means for Indian residents<\/h3>

The tender is particularly significant for the UAE’s large Indian expatriate population.<\/p>

More than four million Indians live in the UAE, making consular services an important part of the country’s diplomatic and community infrastructure.<\/p>

Indian nationals regularly require passport renewals, new passports, visa-related services, document attestation and other forms of consular assistance.<\/p>

The introduction of outsourced application centres is intended to provide dedicated locations where applicants can submit documents and complete the required procedures.<\/p>

For the time being, applicants can continue accessing services under the existing arrangements.<\/p>

However, the identity of the organisation providing outsourced services could change once the new tender is completed.<\/p>

If a company other than Alhind is awarded the contract, the new provider would take over the services covered by the fresh agreement after the required transition and commencement procedures.<\/p>

Applicants are therefore advised to monitor announcements issued by the Indian missions in the UAE rather than relying on unofficial information about any future changes.<\/p>

High demand for consular services<\/h3>

The scale of demand for Indian consular services in the UAE is reflected in the figures recorded by the missions.<\/p>

The Indian missions handled nearly 600,000 consular services during 2025.<\/p>

Of this total, almost 400,000 were passport-related services.<\/p>

The figures demonstrate the substantial volume of applications processed by Indian diplomatic missions in the UAE each year.<\/p>

Passport services represent the largest component of the reported workload, making the selection of an efficient outsourced service provider particularly relevant to the Indian community.<\/p>

A well-organised application process can help applicants complete documentation requirements and submit their requests without unnecessary delays.<\/p>

The fresh tender is therefore not simply a procurement exercise but also concerns the organisation of services used by a large number of Indian nationals living and working across the Emirates.<\/p>

Applicants advised to use official channels<\/h3>

Indian nationals requiring consular assistance have been advised to use the official Consular Seva in UAE portal when making appointments and accessing information about services.<\/p>

Applicants should also monitor announcements issued by the Indian Embassy and the relevant Indian diplomatic missions in the UAE for changes to procedures, service locations or appointment arrangements.<\/p>

With the new tender now underway, official communications will be particularly important as the selection process progresses and any future transition is announced.<\/p>

Applicants should avoid depending on information circulated through unofficial sources, particularly regarding appointment availability, fees, service locations or changes to the outsourced provider.<\/p>

Fresh bidding follows Supreme Court direction<\/h3>

The new tender represents the latest stage in a legal and administrative process that has continued for several months.<\/p>

The original selection of Alhind became the subject of a challenge from unsuccessful bidders, eventually leading to proceedings before the Delhi High Court.<\/p>

The High Court’s decision resulted in a direction for the tender to be conducted again and temporarily restricted Alhind’s rollout.<\/p>

The matter was subsequently taken to the Supreme Court by the Indian government.<\/p>

The Supreme Court’s directions allowed Alhind to continue operating temporarily while requiring the government to complete a new tender within three months.<\/p>

The embassy has now issued the fresh RFP, setting out the requirements for companies seeking to operate the ICAC network.<\/p>

The process includes technical and financial evaluation, a pre-bid conference and specific deadlines for submitting information and bids.<\/p>

The outcome will determine the organisation responsible for the outsourced services under the new three-year contract.<\/p>

Current services remain available<\/h3>

For Indian residents in the UAE, the immediate impact of the new tender is expected to be limited because consular services continue under the current interim arrangement.<\/p>

Alhind’s 16 centres remain part of the existing service network, and the company has already introduced additional measures such as Sunday document collection following the initial period of high demand.<\/p>

The fresh RFP, however, means that the current arrangement should not necessarily be viewed as permanent.<\/p>

Once the new procurement process is completed and a contract is awarded, the selected provider will be expected to begin operations within 45 days of signing the agreement.<\/p>

This could involve the continuation of the existing provider or a transition to another company, depending on the outcome of the bidding process.<\/p>

Key dates for bidders<\/h3>

Companies interested in taking part in the new tender will need to observe the deadlines specified by the Indian Embassy.<\/p>

The organisational profile submission deadline is October 4, followed by October 5 for written questions.<\/p>

The pre-bid conference is scheduled for October 8.<\/p>

Final bids must be submitted by October 26 at 3pm UAE time.<\/p>

The contract will cover a three-year period and includes service requirements for 15 ICAC locations across the UAE.<\/p>

The tender also establishes a bid security requirement of Dh756,700, with an exemption available to eligible registered micro and small enterprises.<\/p>

The winning bidder will be determined under the specified two-stage technical and financial evaluation framework, with the L1 methodology applying to the financial selection.<\/p>

Importance of the new arrangement<\/h3>

The outcome of the tender will be closely watched by the Indian community because consular centres play an important role in handling high-volume services such as passport applications.<\/p>

With nearly 400,000 passport-related services handled by Indian missions in the UAE during 2025, the demand for efficient processing is substantial.<\/p>

The new contract will cover centres in both major population hubs and smaller locations, including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain, Khor Fakkan, Kalba and Ras Al Khaimah.<\/p>

The geographic spread of the centres is intended to provide access to applicants across different parts of the UAE.<\/p>

For residents, the most important consideration will be the continuity of services throughout any transition between providers.<\/p>

The Supreme Court’s interim direction allowing Alhind to continue operating was intended to prevent disruption while the fresh tender was carried out.<\/p>

As the procurement process progresses, the Indian missions are expected to communicate relevant updates concerning the future service arrangement.<\/p>

Until any change is officially announced, applicants should continue following the existing appointment procedures and use the official Consular Seva in UAE platform for service-related requirements.<\/p>

What happens next<\/h3>

The next stage will involve the submission of information and bids by interested service providers.<\/p>

After the October deadlines and pre-bid conference, the authorities will evaluate the proposals according to the requirements established in the RFP.<\/p>

The final selection will determine which organisation receives the three-year contract to operate the specified Indian Consular Application Centres.<\/p>

If the successful bidder is a new company, a transition period will be required before it takes over operations. The RFP states that services must begin within 45 days of the contract being signed.<\/p>

Until that point, Indian residents can continue using the current services.<\/p>

The fresh tender thus provides a new framework for outsourced consular services in the UAE following the legal challenges surrounding the earlier procurement process.<\/p>

For the Indian community, the key priority remains uninterrupted access to passport, visa and attestation services.<\/p>

With Indian missions having processed close to 600,000 consular services in 2025, including nearly 400,000 passport applications, the new three-year contract will be responsible for supporting a significant volume of documentation needs.<\/p>

Applicants should continue to follow official announcements from the Indian Embassy and missions in the UAE and use the designated Consular Seva in UAE portal for appointments and updated service information.<\/p>

The fresh bidding process is expected to determine the next long-term outsourced service provider, while the existing arrangement continues on an interim basis during the transition.<\/p><\/div><\/section>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Indian Embassy in the UAE has invited fresh bids from eligible service providers to manage passport-related services, as part of efforts to ensure efficient, accessible and reliable assistance for Indian citizens seeking documentation support across the Emirates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"post_template":[],"top_category":[],"class_list":["post-48609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uae","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48609"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48614,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48609\/revisions\/48614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48609"},{"taxonomy":"post_template","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_template?post=48609"},{"taxonomy":"top_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/top_category?post=48609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}