India outsources visa processing in Gulf
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THE Indian missions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai have become the first Indian missions in the Gulf to outsource the process of visa applications.
The Economic Times said an agreement was signed on Sunday.
“For the first time in the course of our diplomatic ties, we have taken a different approach to discharging our consular activities,” Talmiz Ahmad, India’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, was quoted saying. He said about 4,000 Indians and foreigners visit the embassy in Abu Dhabi and consulate in Dubai for these matters.
“Since we do not have enough staff to deal with such huge numbers, we have decided that, in partnership with Empost, we will have 12 dedicated centres in the UAE for receiving applications for passports and visas and distributing these documents.”
At present, the Indian embassy and the consulate together issue about 200,000 passport services and 63,000 visas annually. Though Indian missions in some other countries have outsourced the collection of visa applications, this is the first time the process of collecting passport applications has been outsourced by any Indian mission.
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