passport charges, new ICAC service centres and mandatory Air Suvidha form among key changes from July
Dubai: Indian expats in the UAE will soon see big changes in passport services, consular procedures and travel rules. The Indian government has made some rules. One of the changes is that passport fees will go up from July 1.
The Indian government has increased passport fees over the world. The fees have gone up by as much as 75 per cent. A standard 36-page passport for an adult will now cost Rs2,500, which is up from Rs1,500. A 60-page passport will cost Rs3,500, which’s up from Rs2,000. Indian expats in the UAE will have to pay more for Tatkal passport services and for replacing lost or damaged passports.
The Indian government will soon announce the fees for Indian expats in the UAE. Another big change is that there will be a company handling consular services in the UAE. From July 1, Alhind Tours and Travels LLC will run the Indian Consular Application Centres.
These centres will replace the service providers BLS International and SGIVS. The new centres will handle things like passport renewals, visa applications, OCI services, police clearance certificates and document attestation. Alhind Tours and Travels LLC will charge Dh19 per application. People can get an appointment within five working days. The processing time will be around 30 minutes.
For now, routine bookings are closed until June 30. People can still get emergency passports, visas, and attestation services from Indian diplomatic missions. The new ICAC network will have 16 centres across the UAE. There will be centres in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain, Khor Fakkan and Kalba.
People travelling from the UAE to India will also have to follow health rules. They will have to fill out the Air Suvidha 2.0 form within 24 hours of arriving in India. The form will ask for travel history and health information. People will have to show the form on their phone or computer when they arrive in India. The Indian government says that a passport is a document for travel and identity. It does not prove that someone is an Indian citizen.
The Indian government has made these changes to make things easier for expats in the UAE. More than 4.5 million Indians are living in the UAE. Every year, they use services more than 560,000 times. These changes will make things better for expats in the UAE. They will have to pay more for some services and follow new travel rules.
