US Consulate-Hyderabad launches ‘Visa Surge’ days to meet rising demand; more slots for students

Efforts are on to open more slots in June and July for students joining the August academic session in the USA, and similar openings would be created in November and December for those eyeing the January session.

The US Consulate in Hyderabad is introducing ‘Visa Surge’ days to create more slots to deal with the rising demand and special focus will be laid on student visas since they face difficulties in getting a slot before the classes commence.

Consular Chief, US Consulate General Hyderabad, Rebekah Drame made this announcement while interacting with the media along with Consul General Jennifer Larson, Public Affairs Officer David Moyer, Management Officer Audrey Moyer, and Political-Economic Section chief Sean Ruthe. Applicants should check the website and other avenues for the Visa Surge days.

Ms.Drame said efforts were on to open more slots in June and July for students joining the August academic session in the USA, and similar openings would be created in November and December for those eyeing the January session.

Ms.Larson said the new US Consulate General-Hyderabad campus at Nanakramguda has the capacity to process 3,000 to 3,500 visa applications and services related to American nationals in a single day. The earlier facility could not process more than 1,100 applications. She said the US Mission to India is on track to process more than a million visas in 2023.

During her interaction, which is the first one in the newly-opened facility, she said the Nanakramguda office is the biggest in South Asia in terms of staff and consular windows, and also there are more consular officers to conduct visa interviews than at any time in years. There are 54 consular windows as against 16 windows at the earlier facility in Paigah Palace, Begumpet. However, all the windows are not operational now and will become functional as more consular officers are added in future.

Acknowledging the concerns of the applicants, she said due to the best efforts of the staff after COVID-19, the waiting time for visa issuance has been brought down to under six months. For expeditious services, the drop box facility has been extended to all categories. The service period is not only shorter but also faster. Only those applying for a visa for the first time have to appear personally and in the remaining cases, the Consulate is encouraging them to use the drop box facility.