The Hindu : National : New system for U.S. visa appointment

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Friday, Oct 06, 2006
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New system for U.S. visa appointment

Business Executive Programme also to be expanded

— Photo: PTI

U.S. Ambassador to India David C. Mulford checks the working of the visa section for Indians in New Delhi on Thursday.

New Delhi: Indians bound for the United States can now expect to face less procedural hassles, with the U.S. Embassy mobilising additional resources to eliminate by the year-end the waiting period for visa interviews, which at present goes up to six months.

The U.S. Mission is also working to expand its Business Executive Programme (BEP) under which visas of company employees are processed on a priority basis. This will involve expansion of the list of companies entitled to the facility.

"We are sensitive to the inconvenience and long waits for appointments which have characterised our visa processing system in recent months," U.S. Ambassador David C. Mulford told reporters after inaugurating the new visa appointment system at the Embassy here. A similar system, under which waitlisted applicants can advance their appointments, has been initiated in American Consulates General in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

He acknowledged that the prolonged waiting period was giving a "bad name" to the U.S. He said all those applicants who already have an appointment should visit the Embassy's appointment website to advance their schedule. — PTI

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