A notification from U.S. Consul General, Hyderabad Mr. Cornelis Keur indicates that the U.S. Consulate, Hyderabad is in the process of upgrading their existing facility to accommodate increasing demand for visa and American Citizen Services (ACS). This process is expected to take about six weeks.

The notification further clarifies that during these six weeks, the consular section will reduce the number of appointment available for both ACS and visa applications. It may also be noted that until the additional facilities are made available, the U.S. Consulate General, Hyderabad has opened appointments on Saturdays effective April 10, 2010. This notification also urges visa applicants to plan their travel early and apply well in advance and also urges American Citizens to plan and apply for the Citizenship services well in advance.

It is noted that visa applicants with urgent travel needs may approach the U.S. Consulate in Chennai or Consular Sections in India. Emergency services available to American citizens remain unaffected.

Though visa applicants and American Citizens may be inconvenienced temporarily, we strongly believe that this measure by the U.S. Consulate, Hyderabad would be good in the long run and we appreciate their continued efforts to provide better service to U.S. visa applicants and American Citizens. This official update is available at http://hyderabad.usconsulate.gov/limitedoperations.html