US consulate to issue more visas this year

KOLKATA: With a growing number of Indians flying to the US every year, the US mission in India and the Consulate General office in Kolkata have decided to increase the infrastructure and other facilities to expedite visa processing.

"We are targeting to issue over 27,000 visas from Kolkata this year, compared to 21,000 visas issued in 2006. In the next few years, we will appoint many more officers in our consulates and embassies in India. We will have four more consular officers by 2011 in Kolkata," US Minister Counsellor for Consular Affairs Peter G. Kaestner told here on Monday evening.

In 2008, the US consulate office in Kolkata would have a new officer to help with visa investigation, he said, adding a new consular officer was appointed last year at the US consulate office in Kolkata.

This apart, three administrative posts were created last year to expedite visa processing work and reduce waiting period, he said.

India presently has the largest number of foreign students in the United States, with over 80,000 in many educational institutions. India is second only to Mexico in terms of the number of applications for visas, he added.

"We will soon set up a new consulate office in Mumbai apart from sprucing up the consular area in Chennai and Kolkata. We have already reduced the total time for visa appointments from one week to two days in Kolkata, especially for businessmen and students," he said.

As a part of its capacity building, the Consular Affairs Bureau has brought numerous officers to help with the backlog in appointments. To support the Kolkata office, officers came from Hong Kong, Paris and the US, Kaestner said.