Abu Dhabi, UAE: Indian expats in the UAE face passport service disruptions this weekend due to Passport Seva Portal maintenance. Appointments affected on Sept 21.

Abu Dhabi: Passport services for Indian expatriates in the UAE will experience disruptions this weekend, as announced by the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi.

The interruption is due to technical maintenance of the Passport Seva Portal, which will take place from 6:30 PM today (Friday) until 4:30 AM on Monday, September 23, according to a notice from the Embassy on social media.

The Embassy announced that passport and related services, such as TATKAAL and PCC, will not be offered at the Embassy or any BLS International centers.

Fast-Track Service

TATKAAL is an expedited service that allows for quicker passport issuance for a higher fee, while PCC stands for Police Clearance Certificate.

Since Sunday is a holiday, the disruption will primarily affect those who have scheduled appointments for passport services on Saturday, September 21.

This marks the second instance within a month where Indian passport services are suspended for technical maintenance of the Passport Seva Portal. Earlier, services were halted from 6:30 PM on Thursday, August 29, until 4:30 AM on Monday, September 2, impacting appointments on August 30 and 31.

Revised Appointments

The Embassy noted that similar to the previous disruption, BLS will provide new appointment dates to those who had scheduled appointments for September 21, during the week of September 23 to 27.

The mission clarified that if the new appointment date does not work for the applicant, they can go to any BLS center after the revised date and submit their passport application as a walk-in, without requiring a separate appointment.

Moreover, all BLS centers in the UAE will continue to offer other consular and visa services on September 21.

The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, along with the Indian Consulate in Dubai, processes the highest number of Indian passports outside of India, handling between 1,500 to 2,000 applications daily.