The U.S. Consulate General, the Consular/Visa Section, the Public Affairs Office at the American Center comprising of The American Library(AIRC), USIEF(United States India Educational Foundation) and the United States Foreign Commercial Service at Kolkata, India will observe the following American and Indian holidays in the year 2011.

*In lieu of Saturday , 1/1/11
** In lieu of Sunday, 12/25/11

The administrator of this blog routinely posts the holiday closing schedules of various United States Missions in Asia in an attempt to forestall fruitless trips by Americans abroad to a US Embassy or US Consulate only to find such Posts closed in observance of either an American or, for these purposes, Indian holiday. Those wishing to obtain a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, US Passport, or additional visa pages in a previously issued US Passport are well advised to contact an American Citizen Services Section of the nearest United States Embassy or Consulate. In many cases, an appointment can be made in advance over the internet.

Those interested in visiting the official homepage of the American Consulate in Kolkata please click HERE.

Individuals seeking a temporary United States visa for tourism (B-2 visa), studying (F-1 visa), business (B-1 visa), or cultural exchange (J-1 visa) are usually required to process their application through a Non-Immigrant Visa (NIV) Unit of a United States Embassy or Consulate abroad. It should be noted that non-immigrant visa applicants must overcome the legal presumption enshrined in section 214(b) of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act.

Those seeking an American family based visa are generally required to process their application through an Immigrant Visa (IV) Unit abroad after the adjudication and approval of an immigration petition at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). Although not technically an immigrant visa per se, the K-1 visa, a US fiance visa, is treated much the same way as an American immigrant visa for processing purposes.

Those seeking an L-1 visa or an EB-5 visa are also usually required to process an immigration petition through USCIS prior to making an application for an actual visa at a US Embassy abroad.

For related information please see: Consular Report of Birth Abroad.