India to open 8 new consular centres in US from August 1, Saturdays open: Ambassador Kwatra

In a significant boost to consular access for the Indian diaspora in the United States, Ambassador Vinay Kwatra on Thursday announced the launch of eight new Indian Consular Application Centres, operational from August 1, 2025.

The announcement was made via a video message posted by the Embassy of India in Washington, DC on platform X. “Announcing major expansion of our Consular Services in the USA beginning August 01, 2025. Here is a message from Ambassador Vinay Kwatra about this expansion and the positive changes it would bring to our service delivery,” the embassy said.

The new application centres will be located in Boston, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Addison, Orlando, Raleigh, and San Jose. In addition, another centre is expected to open soon in Los Angeles.

“With the opening of these new Indian Consular Application Centres, our presence to provide extensive consular services and related delivery capabilities would increase and expand significantly,” Kwatra said. “Besides, it would also make the delivery of these consular services faster and more accessible to our vibrant Indian diaspora.”

Saturdays open too

In a key operational change, all Indian consular application centres across the US will remain open on Saturdays starting August 1, a move Kwatra said would “significantly enhance not just the availability of various consular services, but also their accessibility.”

The centres will offer streamlined access to various consular services, while certain core services will continue to be available only at the embassy premises.

“We firmly believe that people-to-people ties are at the heart of the India-US partnership,” Kwatra said, reiterating that the newly announced full-fledged Indian consulates in Boston and Los Angeles would further deepen ties in these regions.

He urged the Indian community in the US to monitor the embassy’s official website for regular updates on service availability and the operational timeline of each centre.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian-origin population in the US stands at 5.4 million, including over 2 million NRIs. The Indian diaspora is the third-largest Asian ethnic group in the US and plays a key role in advancing bilateral relations.

In January, the US also opened its new consulate in Bengaluru, taking the total number of American consulates in India to five.