Indian passport fees now almost half salary of many: Expats

The sudden almost 90% rise in passport fees has come as a shocker for Indian expatriates in the Gulf, who have already been reeling with rising prices back home and skyrocketing airfare.

The Indian expatriate community in the UAE is concerned about mounting cost of living for their families back home, after the prices of several essential items like cooking gas, petrol, diesel, milk and vegetables have skyrocketed, along with steep increase in the fees charged for issuing and renewing passports.

* With effect from Monday (October 1, 2012), the cost of taking a new passport has gone up by Dh135 from Dh150 per passport to Dh285.

* The fees for urgent passport (Tatkaal) is jacked up from Dh700 to Dh855, an increase of Dh155.

* The additional charge for issuing a jumbo passport has gone up from Dh40 to Dh60.

* The cost for obtaining a new passport in lieu of lost or stole passport, has gone up by Dh65 from Dh505 to Dh570.

The increase in the passport fee by the Indian missions in the Gulf is more than the corresponding increase back home. The rate for issuing a new passport in India has been increased by Rs500 from Rs1,000 to Rs1,500, a 50 per cent increase. However the corresponding increase in the Gulf is Dh 135 (Rs2,025) – which is almost four times the increase in India