Sunday, September 30, 2007

US Consulate in Hyderabad by 2008

HYDERABAD. The US Consulate in Hyderabad, the fourth in the country after Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, will begin to function by early 2008. It will take up processing of visas, Consul General of the United States of America David T. Hopper said here on Thursday.

Asked by presspersons about on the sidelines of a meeting at the Indian School of Business about the State Government agreeing to make available the Paigah Palace in Begumpet for the US Consulate, he said things were yet to be finalised.

Long waiting list


Referring to the waiting list of visa applicants that was getting longer and longer, he said they were trying to increase manpower at the US Consulate offices across India and put systems in place that could handle more number of applicants per day. He said that with Indian economy growing at a healthy rate and business booming on all fronts, they needed to make their visa processing machinery more efficient.

Visa-seekers


Earlier in his speech, Mr. Hopper said that year-on-year, the number of applications from visa-seekers was growing at 10 per cent. There was a burst of laughter when he said that the growth rate of visa applicants from India was more than the country's annual growth.

No comments: