To tackle mounting appointment backlogs, the Embassy of India in Paris will convert its consular wing into a one-day walk-in camp on Saturday, 21 February. From 09:30 to 15:00, embassy officials will process applications for passport renewals, Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards, attestation services and emergency visas on a first-come, first-served basis. Slots must be pre-booked through the mission’s online portal released this morning.
France hosts an estimated 120,000-strong Indian diaspora, many of whom complain of eight-week waits for routine services. The embassy piloted a similar camp in Lyon last December that cleared 1,800 pending files in a single day. Officials hope the Paris edition will replicate that success ahead of the Easter travel surge.
![Indian Embassy Paris schedules 21 February “pop-up” consular camp for passports, OCI and visa services]()
For applicants who are based outside the capital or who cannot secure one of Saturday’s limited slots, digital facilitators such as VisaHQ offer a convenient alternative. The platform can lodge Indian passport renewals, OCI cards and a variety of French or Schengen visa requests entirely online, with courier pick-up, document checking and real-time tracking built in—details are available at https://www.visahq.com/india/
Applicants are instructed to bring printed appointment confirmations, two passport photos, and exact-change fee payments to speed processing. The embassy has arranged numbered tokens, extra biometric stations and a dedicated elderly/PRM desk. Local Indian community associations will provide volunteers to guide visitors and manage overflow queues outside the chancery.
Corporate mobility teams handling French assignments welcome the camp, noting that delayed passport renewals have knocked project‐rotation schedules off track. HR managers are advising travelling assignees to combine the camp visit with routine Schengen-visa renewals at neighbouring prefectures, saving an extra trip to Paris later in the year.
France hosts an estimated 120,000-strong Indian diaspora, many of whom complain of eight-week waits for routine services. The embassy piloted a similar camp in Lyon last December that cleared 1,800 pending files in a single day. Officials hope the Paris edition will replicate that success ahead of the Easter travel surge.
For applicants who are based outside the capital or who cannot secure one of Saturday’s limited slots, digital facilitators such as VisaHQ offer a convenient alternative. The platform can lodge Indian passport renewals, OCI cards and a variety of French or Schengen visa requests entirely online, with courier pick-up, document checking and real-time tracking built in—details are available at https://www.visahq.com/india/
Applicants are instructed to bring printed appointment confirmations, two passport photos, and exact-change fee payments to speed processing. The embassy has arranged numbered tokens, extra biometric stations and a dedicated elderly/PRM desk. Local Indian community associations will provide volunteers to guide visitors and manage overflow queues outside the chancery.
Corporate mobility teams handling French assignments welcome the camp, noting that delayed passport renewals have knocked project‐rotation schedules off track. HR managers are advising travelling assignees to combine the camp visit with routine Schengen-visa renewals at neighbouring prefectures, saving an extra trip to Paris later in the year.
