Hyderabad: Hyderabad Consulate General which is currently housed in Paigah Palace, Begumpet is going to be shifted to a new office at Nanakramguda. The new office will be South Asia’s largest US Consulate office.
US Embassy Charge d’Affaires and Ambassador A. Elizabeth Jones on Tuesday said that the Consulate will be shifted to the new office in the first half of 2023.
Apart from 54 visa procession windows, the consulate office which is constructed on a 12.2-acre site will have many new features.
US Consulate in Hyderabad was established in 2009
The US Consulate office in Hyderabad which is the first US diplomatic office to open in India after 1947 was established in 2009.
Currently housed in Paigah Palace, Chiran Fort Lane, Hyderabad, it covers three states viz., Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha.
The palace was built by Sir Vicar-ul-Umra who was a Paigah nobleman and it is spread on four-acre land. It is a double-storied building.
US student visa appointment wait times rise
In US universities, there are three intakes i.e., Fall (September intake), Winter (January intake), and Spring (May intake).
As students who got admissions into US universities in Winter and Spring intakes are seeking appointments for student visas at Hyderabad Consulate, the wait times have gone up.
Currently, the wait times for Interview Required Students/Exchange Visitors and Interview Waiver Students/Exchange Visitors type visas are 104 and 74 calendar days respectively.
Following the reports on the rise in wait times, US Ambassador Jones said that student visa is the top priority for the US government.
She further assured that by this summer, the number of staff members at the US Consulate in Hyderabad and other states will be more than pre-pandemic levels. It will help in reducing the visa appointment wait times for student visas, she added.
