"This is a proposal we are discussing with the Ministry of External Affairs in India so that we can be far more efficient and provide better consular services. We are at an advanced stage of discussions and it will take place sometime soon,” Indian ambassador Vipul told Gulf Times.
“Once it is outsourced, the entire services will be done by the agency that will handle it. This includes issuing of new passports, renewal of the passports, visa service, police verification certificates, attestation of documents among others,” explained the envoy.
According to the ambassador, the current Indian population in Qatar is slightly in excess of 800,000 and the consular service needs are on the increase.
At present all these services are done at the embassy. In addition, two apex bodies under the Indian embassy also carry out some of the consular services.
The Indian envoy noted that the passports are generally issued at the embassy within a reasonably good time without much delay. He elaborated: “Currently, we are issuing the passports in about 10 days including the weekend holidays. So, essentially it is done in about seven to eight working days. It is our effort to bring it down further. Several of the other documents are done and issued on the same day.”
“Sometimes there is a surge in application for passport renewal due to several reasons such as the holiday season and delays can happen at that time. During last March and April, there was some heavy rush for passport services and hence there was some delay for the passport renewal,” he continued.
The ambassador said the embassy has taken every effort to provide the consular services at the earliest and very efficiently.
“One of my priorities is to see that the consular services are delivered well on time and the outsourcing of it will make it smoother and faster. Though the current number of days to issue a new passport is fairly reasonable by most standards, we are putting in our efforts to bring the number of days further down,” added ambassador Vipul.
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