Indian Missions in UAE start daily open house from Tuesday

The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General in Dubai will hold an open house from Sunday to Thursday from 10am to 12pm, the embassy said in a press release on Monday.

During the open house, any member of the Indian community can interact with officers without any prior appointment.

The missions have taken several other measures for the benefit of Indian nationals. The Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) has been set up, which provides various kinds of assistance to Indians in distress, depending on the need and the financial condition of the individual. Facilities for transportation of mortal remains, repatriation of Indian workers by providing free one-way air tickets, emergency medical care, boarding and lodging for distressed Indian workers, etc, are provided from the fund.

The Embassy has also established the Indian Workers Resource Centre (IWRC) which runs a round-the-clock toll-free multilingual information helpline number 800- 46342 (800- INDIA). IWRC also offers free counselling services to Indian nationals for psychological, financial and legal matters.

Passport services have been outsourced by the Embassy so that no one needs to visit the Embassy or the Consulate for the same. The outsourced passport centres are located all over the UAE, which can be reached on the helpline numbers 04-2555530 (Dubai) and 02-4456994 (Abu Dhabi). Similarly, attestation services are also provided through outsourced centres through IVS Global, which can be reached on the helpline number 043579585 and 043579636.

The services for registration of deaths of Indians and for completion of other formalities related to either transportation of mortal remains to India or for burial or cremation in the UAE are provided round-the-clock on gratis basis, even on holidays and after office hours by the Embassy and the Consulate.

The Embassy and Consulate officials regularly visit the various jails in the UAE to enquire about the welfare of Indians in these jails and provide other consular services.

An agreement for transfer of sentenced persons between India and the UAE came into force in March 2013. Any Indian national who has been sentenced and is serving his sentence in any UAE jail can make a request and submit an application to the officials of the Embassy or Consulate during their visit to jails. However, this request for transfer is subject to certain conditions, including consent of the Government of UAE and Government of India.

The details of various facilities provided by the missions and the contact numbers for the various services are available on the websites of the Embassy (http//:www.indembassyuae.org) and the Consulate (http://www.cgidubai.com) Moreover, the Embassy can also be reached at its number 02 4492700. Gulf News