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Sajida Begum was one of the hundreds of Indian expats who lined up in front of the Consulate General of India (CGI) for passport and consular services on Friday. She was in the queue to get the passport made for her 10-day old son. She said she was surprised by how seamless the procedure was.

“I was expecting to wait for a long time in the heat, and I had taken my umbrella and mist fan,” she said. “But there were tents set up for the applicants. While we waited, the consulate staff brought us free tea and snacks. In between my son began crying to be fed and I started to panic. But the consulate gave us one of the rooms to breastfeed our children. I was very impressed with how well they had managed to tackle the situation.”

The Embassy of India and CGI have set up limited consular services (Passport, Visa, Attestation & Miscellaneous services) on a walk-in basis, following the first-come-first-serve principle from 9am to 12.30pm. This comes as the outsourcing contract for consular services has run into legal trouble. It is the first time in over 15 years that the Indian mission has undertaken consular services.

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On Friday alone, the CGI processed over 800 applications and had over 1400 visitors. Over the last two days around 2000 consular services were provided by the Embassy and the Consulate to the Indian nationals in UAE, with special priority given to senior citizens, newborn passport applications, and People of Determination.

Working 13 hours

When Khaleej Times visited the CGI premises at 3pm, there were still scores of people in the waiting area and even more trickling in, although the visiting times were over. One of them said that the consulate staff has been extremely helpful. “When I went in, I had no idea what to do,” said Mohammed, who had come in for a passport renewal. “But right from the security staff to the officers at the desk were extremely helpful.”

On Friday over 1400 people visited the CGI

Over a hundred staff members are on deck to help with the massive undertaking. “Some staff told us that they are pulling off 13-14 hour days to ensure that everything proceeds in a timely manner,” said Gopal, who was at the consulate for a document attestation. “Some of them did not even take lunch breaks. Everyone has been going over and beyond to help everyone. We are really grateful for everything that the staff are doing.”

Meanwhile, Alhind Tours & Travels has confirmed that although the rollout of its Consular, Passport and Visa (CPV) services has been temporarily deferred until further notice, all 16 of its centers are fully prepared to start processing applicants as soon as the Embassy of India directs it to do so.

Low fees

Sharjah resident Malini and her husband were preparing for summer vacation when they realized that her passport had expired. With less than ten days remaining for their trip, the couple were one of the first ones in line on Friday. “When we came at 8am, there was already a line,” she said, “Some people had begun queuing up as early as 6:30am.”

She added that one of the most surprising things for her was when the time came for payment. “We paid about half of what we paid last year for my husband’s renewal,” she said. “For his renewal, we couldn’t find slots at the regular center, so we had to book in the premium lounge. Then we had to pay extra for photocopying and photographs. Here, everything was free and the passport rates were very low compared to what was being charged.”

The summer months — peak travel months — have brought a significant demand for consular services. Meanwhile, the mission has announced that attestation services will be provided by the Consulate General of India, Dubai at the Indian Association Sharjah on July 4 and 5 from 9am to 2pm and the Indian Social Club, Fujairah on July 5 from 10am to 2pm.

Indian expats in UAE face passport, document delays due to consular services rollout snag Indian embassy in UAE to offer limited consular services on walk-in basis Indian passport services in UAE hit by delay amid contract battle in Delhi courts