Effective December 1, 2011, the U.S. Consulate in Chennai will be the sole U.S. Consulate in India to accept applications from foreign nationals applying for an intracompany transfer to the United States under the blanket L visa program. The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and the U.S. Consulates in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad will no longer accept visa applications under the blanket L category, but will continue to accept applications based on individual L petitions. Although no other changes to visa processing were announced, foreign nationals applying in any visa category in Chennai may experience significant scheduling and processing delays as of the effective date. Individuals applying for blanket L visas in India should take into account the additional time that will be required for domestic travel and visa processing in India.

The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and the U.S. Consulates in Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata will continue to accept applications from the L-2 eligible dependents of L-1 visa holders.

Please see full alert below for more information.