JEDDAH: The Consulate General of India yesterday announced its decision to outsource visa support services for foreign nationals visiting India and passport support services to Indian expatriates in the Kingdom.
The firms designated in the Kingdom for the purpose are Al-Fifa for General Services in Dammam, Al-Tayyar Travel Group in Jeddah and Yes GCC LLC, Dubai, UAE (Local partner Abyaar Modern commercial Services — Tas Heel).
The consulate has signed agreements with the firms. These firms are expected to take over the work related to collection of applications for visas and passports in the Western Province from Aug. 16, subjected to their completing all formalities and infrastructure before that date.
After outsourcing, the visa/passport applicants, instead of visiting the consulate, will approach the outsourcing firms with all required documents.
The office of these outsourcing firms in Jeddah will remain open six days a week (closed on Fridays) from 8.30 a.m. to 8.30 p.m., except on Saudi national day and a couple of days during Ramadan and Haj holidays. These firms will have dedicated collection centers at all places for receiving applications for obtaining new passports and visas and distributing processed documents where consulate’s teams have been visiting periodically at weekends in the Western Province.
The decision follows the government of India’s policy to outsource visa support services. Several overseas Indian missions and posts have already entered into agreements for outsourcing both visa services and a few of them for obtaining visa and passport support services.
