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| September 15, 2009 | Faster visa to US under Delhi consular section | | New Delhi: The US Ambassador to India, Timothy Roemer on Monday inaugurated the US Embassy's new Consular (visa) section in New Delhi. The new facility is the result of a multi-year,
10 million dollar expansion that would permit the embassy to provide faster and
better consular service to the Indian community, particularly catering to northern
India. James Herman, Minister Counsellor for Consular Affairs at the United States
Embassy, told reporters that new consul section doesn't mean that more visas would
be issued, but it would help clear the backlog. "The new facilities designed here
are to allow us the capability to process more visas. It doesn't mean that we
are issuing more visas. It is simply a matter of making sure that we can process
all the visas applicants who want to apply for visas in India," he added. "Three
years ago the average waiting time in India for a visa appointment was a little
bit over six months, that is now down to a well under two weeks. In some place
like Chennai for example it's just a two-day wait. So the point is to give us
the capability of processing as many visas as there are applicants," Herman said.
The new facility doubles the waiting area, triples customer seating, adds a modern
queuing system to guide customers through the visa process and adds many interviewing
windows to ensure that visa applicants and American citizens can speak to an officer
more quickly and in a convenient, modern environment. The demand for consular
services in India has surged to new levels, mirroring the deepening strategic
partnership. Over the past five years, the issuance of U.S. non-immigrant visas
in India have more than doubled from approximately 275,000 in 2003 to approximately
560,000 in 2008. Speaking on the recent travel advisory issued to the Americans
travelling to India, Herman said that it is routine and just meant for the safety
of US citizens. "The travel alert is for a wider audience. It's basically says
the same things as last two warden messages. So if you look at it it's the way
we communicate with Americans who travel...it's a fair assessment," he added.
The travel alert recently posted on US embassy website states that last years
Mumbai terror attacks provides a vivid reminder that hotels and other public places
being attractive targets for militant groups. The advisory ask US citizens to
maintain heightened situational awareness and a low profile. | |
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