 Online edition of India's National Newspaper Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Tamil Nadu |
 |
News:
ePaper |
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Engagements |
Advts: Retail Plus | Classifieds | Jobs | Obituary |
Tamil Nadu
-
Chennai
A new consulate will be opened in Hyderabad by the end of this year It will handle a third of the visa interviews 
David T. Hopper CHENNAI: United States Consul-General in South India David T. Hopper, who presided over the massive reduction in waiting time for non-immigrant visa interviews for travellers from the south, will leave Chennai at the end of the month. In the three years he looked after U.S. interests in the region, Mr. Hopper implemented U.S. Ambassador David C. Mulford’s project of cutting down on the visa interview waiting time from more than six months to about two weeks. In an interaction with select presspersons, he said that with the opening of a new consulate in Hyderabad by the end of the year, a third of the visa interviews will be handled there. In 2006, visa officers in Chennai processed 1.48 lakh applications. In 2007, the number more than doubled to about 3 lakh. “A third of all visa applications are from Andhra Pradesh, while Tamil Nadu and Karnataka account for a fourth each,” he said in response to a question. The rest come from Kerala and Puducherry. Placing the opening of the Hyderabad consulate in perspective, Mr. Hopper said this was an indication of the growing Indo-U.S. ties. Mr. Hopper, a career diplomat who joined the service in 1975, said the U.S. was not opening many consulates. As far as he could remember, in the past decade this was the first instance of a consulate being opened by the U.S. Though the new consulate would take some work away from Chennai, the work here would still keep everyone occupied. Hence, there would be no cutback on personnel here. The Chennai consulate, opened in 1969, did face a space crunch, he said, and one had to remember that for more than a decade since it was opened, the consulate hardly processed a few dozen visa applications every day. “Now we process between 1,200 to 1,400 applications each day.” The consulate had to move to a more spacious place, but that was not in the short term. “We eventually will have to find a new site. But this will not be in the immediate future,” he said. Mr. Hopper thanked officers and politicians of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala for their cooperation in providing security and making traffic arrangements during his tenure. “We have been well received in all States,” he said, when asked which of the southern States was the most friendly. Mr. Hopper, who made it a point of attending many Carnatic concerts and watching Tamil movies, said that ultimately, it was people-to-people relations that mattered. “There is more to the U.S. than the war on terror or the nuclear deal. It is a very diverse country,” he said.
Printer friendly
page
News:
ePaper |
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Engagements |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | The Hindu ePaper | Business Line | Business Line ePaper | Sportstar | Frontline | Publications | eBooks | Images | Home |
Copyright © 2008, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|