Let US consulate in Chennai adjudicate blanket L visa applications

The US consulate in Chennai should be designated as the only post in India authorised to adjudicate blanket Lvisa applications, mostly involving requests from IT professionals, according to an official report here.

In a wide-ranging set of recommendations, the 90-page report of the Office of the Inspector General on the US diplomatic posts in India said that one of the biggest challenges consular managers in India face is ensuring consistency in the standards of adjudication on H and L visas.

"The inconsistencies arise from the complexity of these visa categories and create public relations problems, as large companies note different decisions for employees in similar circumstances," it said.

"Mission India processes more such cases than any other mission in the world. Many involve applicants who work in the information technology sector. Because the law is complex, consular officers need more time to adjudicate such cases and need to exchange ideas with their colleagues who are working on similar cases. Officers must refuse applicants who do not meet the qualifications under the law," it said.

"Because the applicants apply based on petitions that were approved by theDepartment of Homeland Security, consular officers must request that department to revoke the petitions," said the report, which was made public yesterday.

It also recommended that the US embassy in New Delhi should coordinate with Consulate General Chennai so that the call centre in New Delhi will respond to all routine phone calls and emails for Chennai as it does for the other posts in India.

Given the heavy demands on their time, the Ambassador, deputy chief of mission (DCM) and senior staff should develop a comprehensive strategy to allocate the Ambassador's and their responsibilities for engaging with top-level Indian counterparts and for managing their growing workload, the report said, adding theDCM should lead this effort.

It recommended that the US consulate in Chennai should be designated as the only post in India authorised to adjudicate blanket L visa applications.

Noting that housing issues are the mission's greatest management challenge and finding affordable, quality housing is becoming increasingly difficult, especially in New Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad, the report said the mission and the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations should plan to build housing units on US Government-owned land.