Regular subscribers of the MurthyIndiaBulletin and readers of MurthyIndia.com are aware that the U.S. Visa application process has been continuously streamlined to make the application process simpler. In yet another effort to make interview dates available immediately, the U.S. Ambassador to India Mr. Timothy J. Roemer on November 18, 2010 announced that the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and the U.S. Consulates in Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Calcutta will accept visa applications from across India, irrespective of the domicile of the applicant.

It may be recalled that earlier, visa applicants would necessarily have to apply at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate which has jurisdiction over the applicants place residence. The only exception to this was for H and L workers who had already obtained a H or L visa and were working in the U.S. and are applying for a subsequent H or L visa.

Further, the Consular Districts have been re-organized and the present jurisdiction is vested as detailed below:

U.S. Embassy, New Delhi:
Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bhutan;

U.S. Consulate General Mumbai:
Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Diu and Daman, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli;

U.S. Consulate General Hyderabad:
Andhra Pradesh and Orissa;

U.S. Consulate General Chennai:
Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands;

U.S. Consulate General Kolkata:
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, West Bengal

This update is available here.