US Mission to India to process more than million visas this year: Official

The US Mission to India, the four consulates and the embassy, is on track to process more than a million visas this year, Jennifer Larson, US Consul General Hyderabad, said on Wednesday.

The consulate in Hyderabad represents the US government in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

"We know visa wait times have grown long since the global pandemic began and we recognise the challenges this presents to students, professionals, and tourists who wish to travel to the United States. I'm also happy to report we are making significant progress on that front," Larson told reporters.

The US Consulate in Hyderabad recently moved from Paigah Palace to its new campus at Financial District, Nanakramguda, in the IT hub of the city.

The new campus is the biggest consulate in South Asia (exclusive of embassies) in terms of staffing and windows and others. "We are not at full capacity yet. We are going to be growing for the next couple of years to get there," she said.

Once fully staffed, the consulate at Nanakramguda will be able to process between 3,000 to 3,500 visa applications and US citizen services in a single day, another senior consulate official said.

Earlier, the consulate had the largest number of single day applications of 1,100 when it operated from Paigah Palace.