The Central government has floated a revised Request for Proposal (REP) for outsourcing vital documents including Passport, Visa, and Consular (CPV) services across 23 Indian Missions or Posts worldwide. The new fee structure could increase the service costs by 15 to 20 times.
The move will place a severe financial burden on millions of blue-collar workers—who form the backbone of India’s global diaspora.
The proposed “service fee per application” mandates payment for a bundled package, including document digitization, fingerprint and facial biometric capture, and four application support services—photocopying, photography, form filling, and courier services.
According to an estimate, the service that currently costs USD5 to USD7 could now cost over USD 90 which will directly affect the Indian workers in Gulf countries, the UK, and beyond, many of whom struggle to make ends meet.
The move has sparked outrage among Indian expatriates and industry experts. Critics also question whether lobbying by select service providers—is driving this drastic pricing shift.
Meanwhile Congress MP KC Venugopal took to micro blogging site X to raise the matter and said that policies cannot be designed to deter Indians from applying for visas and returning home.
“A vast majority of our NRI brothers and sisters live paycheck to paycheck, so that they can send most of their earnings back home. The latest RFP for Consular, Passport and Visa services (CPV) at Indian missions abroad will impose a massive burden on these workers, and appears to be designed to benefit private service providers,” he wrote.
He further stated that hiking fees for CPV services by 10-15x, and charging mandatory service fees for ancillary services which used to be optional, is wholly unacceptable. “Policies cannot be designed to deter Indians from applying for visas and returning home,” he added.
“We demand an explanation from the MEA on this decision, and they must alter the tender conditions immediately,” Venugopal said.
