With the steep rise in US$ rates, the consulate has revised the exchange rate from Rs. 50 to a US$ to Rs. 52 to a US$. This comes into effect from November 16, 2011. Effectively, the INR equivalent all the non-immigrant and immigrant visa application fee would be affected. The new non-immigrant visa application fee…

We had reported in August 2011 that processing of Blanket L visas would be moved to U.S. Consulate in Chennai in the near future. A recent press release indicates that the centralized processing of the Blanket L visa category will commence from December 1, 2011. Effectively, the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and U.S. Consulates…

A news update on the U.S. Consulate, Mumbai’s website indicates that the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai is shifting their premises from “Lincoln House”, Breach Candy and their American Center in Church Gate to their new facility at “Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC)”.  The consulate office at Lincoln House will be closed with effect from November 15,…

Subscribers to MurthyIndiaBulletin and regular readers of MurthyIndiaDotCom are aware that the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi; U.S. Consulate in Mumbai and Hyderabad provided comprehensive support through VFS and stopped direct communication. With effect from Tuesday, November 1, 2011, the Consular Section in Chennai has shifted correspondence via the VFS service for response to inquiries.…

Regular visitors to MurthyIndiaDotCom and Subscribers to MurthyIndiaBulletin may be aware that the applicants opting for visa interview English or Hindi could apply at anyone of the U.S. Consulate / Embassy within in India from December 03, 2010. Previously, even if one had chosen a different Consulate / Embassy under the location option while completed…

Earlier, when a visa was issued, the U.S. Consulate, Chennai used to retain the Consulate copy of the HDFC receipt. Recently we have received many calls from visa applicants expressing concern that U.S. Consulate, Chennai did not retain the Consulate’s copy of the HDFC receipt and returned both the embassy copy (with yellow barcode) and…

Beginning November 1, 2011 all visa applicant(s) at U.S. Kolkata will have to submit their documents in response to a query under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act at their nearest VFS; unless specifically instructed to re-appear with all documents. It may be noted that earlier the applicants were requested to re-appear with…

With effect from November 2011, the MurthyIndiaBulletin would be sent out on the first Monday of each month. Regular subscribers to MurthyIndiaBulletin may be aware that this free monthly eNewsLetter was previously sent on the first Friday of each month. We take this opportunity to thank each one of you for subscribing to our bulletin…

Earlier this year, we reported that applications for Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) along with other visa applications at Indian Embassy in the U.S. were outsourced to “Travisa Outsourcing”. The earlier procedure required applicants to send their original U.S. passport along with the application for OCI status. This requirement made it difficult for applicants with…

With effect from Monday, September 19, 2011, the U.S. Consular Exchange rate will be adjusted to INR 50 to a US$ from the existing INR 47 to one US$. This revision in the exchange rate will affect the INR equivalent for all the non-immigrant, immigrant visa and citizenship services application fees paid on or after…