US consulate in Chennai records 27 pc rise in Lvisa applications
Chennai:
United States on Thursday denied news reports that the fees for submitting H1B visas have been increased .
Addressing
a press conference here, Chief of Consular Services in United States Consulate
in Chennai Nicholas Manring said, “The news reports that the fees for
submitting H1B petitions have increased are in fact untrue. The fees are the
same as they were last year. And there are no current plans to change those
fees.”
“We are required by law to recover the cost of processing
visas through the collection of visa application processing fees. The
Department of State reviews those costs annually, worldwide, and adjusts fees
for all visa services up and down according to that review. There is no set schedule and this could
happen at any time. The last change in
our visa fees was on July 13, 2010,” Manring added.
Manring also said that US Consulate General in Chennai has
recorded a 27 per cent rise in the number of L visa applications in the first
quarter of this year. “We have processed 6,044 L visas in 2012 which is 27 per
cent increase over the same period in 2011 where we received 4,700
applications,” Manring said.
Meanwhile, the US consulate in Chennai has launched a
pilot programme last week to waive the interview procedure for people renewing
visas primarily for tourist and short-term business travel visas.
“This is for people renewing
visas, primarily for tourist and short-term business travel visas, renewing
within 48 months of expiration for B1/B2 visas,” Manring said.
“This allows people to present
their application and passport at the Consulate, have their photograph and
fingerprints taken, but many will not have to then go on to be interviewed,
Manring added. Meanwhile, the US consulate is adding another HDFC counter in
Mysore to accept visa fees next month .
Interestingly, the US consulate in Chennai this
year has processed 57,218 visa applications, which is four per cent less than last year. But
Manring dismissed it as a small number and said the dip is too marginal.
Factfile:
There has been a 60 pc rise in
staff across US consulates in India over the last five years.
Each working day, US consulate in
Chennai conducts 900-1,000 interviews
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