India Consular Application Centres will be located in six cities: Washington DC, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta and Houston.

VFS Global has been appointed as the exclusive service provider for visa, OCI, passport,  renunciation of Indian citizenship, and Global Entry Programme (GEP) verification services  for the Government of India in the United States. 

From next month, the Indian diaspora and other applicants across the United States  can apply for OCI, passport, renunciation of Indian citizenship, and GEP verification services at any one of VFS Global’s India Centers, it said. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, India visa services remain suspended; re-start date to be  announced according to directives of the Embassy of India in USA. 

India Consular Application Centres will be located in six cities: Washington DC, New York,  San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta and Houston.

In these cities, VFS Global will provide the following services for Indian or US citizens, and for third country nationals, from November 2020: Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) application, passport application, renunciation of Indian citizenship and Global Entry Programme (GEP) verification services. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, India visa services remain suspended at present. The re-start date for visa  services will be announced according to directives of the Embassy of India in USA.

The centers will be equipped with  facilities aimed at providing an easily accessible and a superior application experience for customers and will make the application process more convenient for  travellers. These services are expected to benefit the over 4 million-strong Indian diaspora community in  the United States, as well as customers who apply for India visas from the US. 

Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group Chief Operating Officer (South Asia, Middle East & North Africa and  Americas), VFS Global, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen to offer these vital passport and  consular services across the United States and are committed to providing a superior experience for each  and every one of our customers here, in line with our service standards globally. I must add that as a  company that has its origins in Mumbai, India – where the first VFS Global Application Centre was set up  close to two decades ago – it is a matter of immense pride for us to be given the opportunity to serve our  customers right across the United States.” 

VFS Global has been serving the Government of India since 2008. The United States is the 12th country in which VFS Global will provide passport, visa and consular services for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.  At present, VFS Global manages 44 Passport and Visa Application Centres for the Government of India in 11 countries: Australia, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain,  Switzerland, Thailand and the United Kingdom.