Some recent media reports have raised concerns among expatriate Indians about a steep hike in fees for Indian passport and visa services abroad. However, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Bahrain have dismissed these reports as ‘speculation’ and clarified that no such hike has been made.
Indian passport fee hike news: Recently, some media reports claimed that the fees for Indian passport and visa services abroad are going to increase drastically, causing concern among the expatriate Indian community. However, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Indian Embassy in Bahrain have dismissed these reports as ‘speculation’.
According to media reports, under a new proposed Request for Proposal (RFP) of the government, the cost of consular, passport, and visa (CPV) services may increase by 15 to 20 times. Under this proposal, applicants will have to pay for a combined package, which includes digitization of documents, fingerprint and facial biometric capture, and four additional services – photocopying, photography, form filling, and courier services. This combined fee will be mandatory even if the applicant does not require all of these services, increasing the cost from $5-7 (approx. ₹415-580) to $90-100 (approx. ₹7,470-8,300).
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…
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) February 27, 2025
Following this report, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) called Migrant Legal Cell urged the government not to implement the proposal. “Many migrants earn modest salaries and will find it difficult to afford the revised fees, which have increased by up to five times in some countries,” they said in their memorandum.
Embassy said – do not trust
However, the Indian Embassy in Bahrain rejected these claims and said in a statement that these reports are speculations and should not be believed. The embassy said, “There has been no increase in the fees for various consular services provided in Bahrain as claimed. The embassy advises all concerned to avoid such unconfirmed and speculative reports, which may cause inconvenience to the Indian community in Bahrain and affect the effective delivery of these services.”
Press Release by @IndiaInBahrain on unverified and speculative reports on increase in the fees for Consular services👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/tukNUWGy84
— India in Bahrain (@IndiaInBahrain) February 27, 2025
Thus, MEA and the Indian Embassy in Bahrain have clarified that reports of any increase in fees for passport and visa services are purely speculative and no such increase has been announced at present.
