India opens eight new consular application centres in the US for better diaspora access | Check list here The Ambassador said that starting August 1, all the Indian consular application centres would also remain open on Saturdays. He noted that this would help significantly enhance not just the availability of various consular services, but also their accessibility to the Indian diaspora.

Washington:

In a major step to improve outreach and accessibility for the Indian diaspora, India’s Ambassador to the United States Vinay Kwatra announced the launch of eight new Indian Consular Application Centres across the United States. As per details, the move is aimed at expanding and streamlining consular services for millions of Indians living in America. Sharing the update through a video message posted on social media platform X, the Embassy of India in Washington, DC outlined the government’s commitment to better serve the community. The new centres are expected to ease access to key services such as passport renewals, visa assistance, OCI card processing, and other essential consular needs.

List of new application centres:

Boston Columbus Dallas Detroit Addison Orlando Raleigh San Jose

“In addition, we would also be opening another Indian Consular Application Centre in Los Angeles very soon. With the opening of these new Indian Consular Application Centres, our presence to provide extensive consular services and related delivery capabilities would increase and expand significantly. Besides, it would also make the delivery of these consular services faster and more accessible to our vibrant Indian diaspora,” Ambassador Kwatra said.

Centres to remain open Saturdays

The Ambassador said that starting August 1, all the Indian consular application centres would also remain open on Saturdays. He noted that this would help significantly enhance not just the availability of various consular services, but also their accessibility to the Indian diaspora.

Streamlining of other consular services

The Ambassador also mentioned the streamlining of various miscellaneous consular services, which would be made available through the Indian Consular Application Centres, and a few of the important services would, however, continue to be dispersed and made available from the embassy premises. “We firmly believe that people-to-people ties are at the heart of the India-US partnership. With the opening of two new consulates in Boston and Los Angeles, which the Prime Minister of India had announced a few months ago, we would be able to further strengthen not just a relationship between our two countries, but also our people-to-people ties, particularly in the areas of Boston and Los Angeles”.

Embassy website for regular updates

Ambassador Kwatra also requested the members of the Indian diaspora to keep visiting the website of the Indian Embassy, where detailed information about the opening of these Indian Consular Application Centres and the availability of various miscellaneous Consular services would be made available more regularly. As per the Ministry of External Affairs, about 5.4 million Indian origin people (per MEA data; includes 2.07 million NRIs) reside in the US. Persons of Indian origin constitute the third-largest Asian ethnic group in the US. The Indian diaspora has been a catalyst in cementing closer ties between India and the US.

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